Country gender assessment of agriculture and the rural ... · 4. Assessment of gender inequalities...

OF AGRICULTURE ANDTHE RURAL SECTOR IN

NEPAL

COUNTRY GENDER ASSESSMENT

OF AGRICULTURE AND THE RURAL SECTOR IN

NEPAL

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Kathmandu, 2019

COUNTRY GENDER ASSESSMENT

Required citation:FAO. 2019. Country gender assessment of agriculture and the rural sector in Nepal. Kathmandu.76 pp. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

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Acknowledgements v

Acronyms and abbreviations vii

Executive summary ix

1. Introduction 11.1 Background and rationale 21.2 Methodology 21.3 History of FAO in Nepal 21.4 Organization of the Assessment 4

2. Nepal country context 52.1 National social and economic situation 62.2 Agriculture and rural development 72.3 Human development 10

3. Policy, legislative and institutional context 173.1 Gender in agriculture and rural development policies and strategies 183.2 Gender concerns in national plans and programmes 213.3 International commitments and legal provisions relevant for gender equality promotion 213.4 Institutional framework for gender equality and women’s empowerment 25

4. Assessment of gender inequalities in agriculture and the rural sector 314.1 Food security and nutrition 324.2 Crop production and post-harvest 334.3 Livestock production and management 354.4 Aquaculture 364.5 Forest and natural resource management 374.6 Agricultural technology and agribusiness 374.7 Agriculture extension services 394.8 Rural finance 404.9 Agricultural cooperatives 414.10 Rural infrastructure 434.11 Climate change and disaster risk management 46

5. Conclusion 475.1 Major findings 485.2 Recommendations 51

References 54

AnnexesAnnex 1: Development partners and international and civil society organizations working to promote 60

gender equality and women’s empowerment in agriculture and the rural sector

Annex 2: Case study: A success story of women’s empowerment in Syangja 65

Contents

iv

Figures and tables

Figure 1: Contribution of agricultural sub-sectors to total agricultural GDP, 2015 (in percentage) 7Figure 2: Contribution by types of livestock to the total livestock population (in percentage) 9Figure 3: Rates of childhood mortality per 1 000 live births (in percentage) 11Figure 4: Percentage of economically active population by sex and sector 14Figure 5: Conceptual framework for GESI mechanism in the Agriculture Development Strategy 19Figure 6: Allocation of agriculture sector budget in response to gender in MoAD 27Figure 7: Share of men and women in agriculture development programmes at the district level 28

(in percentage)

Figure 8: Share of women in various agricultural projects (in percentage) 28Figure 9: Land and house owned by female-headed households (in percentage) 35Figure 10: Representation of women in different fields of study (in percentage) 39Figure 11: Agricultural cooperative institutions by agricultural products (in percentage) 42Figure 12: Male and female executive members of agricultural cooperative institutions, 2016 (in percentage) 42Figure 13: Share of rural households’ access to basic facilities by sex of head of household, 2011 44

(in percentage)

Table 1: Sex ratio, rural and urban population, and annual population growth rate 10Table 2: Nutrition status of children under-five years old in rural and urban areas (in percentage) 12Table 3: Gender references in agriculture and rural development-related policies and strategies 19Table 4: National periodic plans for gender integration in agriculture 22Table 5: Provisions of gender equality in the 2015 constitution 24Table 6: Average weekly hours spent on economic and non-economic work of employed persons 33

aged 15 years and above, by sex, 2012-2013

Table 7: Distribution of roles and responsibilities in major livestock activities (in percentage) 35Table 8: Participation of men and women in the livestock Pocket Package Programme in the Eastern 36

region districts, 2013-2014

Table 9: Distribution of rural and urban household loans borrowed by source (in percentage) 41Table 10: Direct employment received by men and women in agricultural cooperatives 43

v

Acknowledgements

This Country Gender Assessment (CGA) was commissioned by FAO as part of the regional programme

‘Promoting gender equality through knowledge generation and awareness raising’. This programme aims to

support the review and/or formulation of gender-responsive sectoral policies and strategies and to accelerate

the implementation of the FAO Policy on Gender Equality and the Asia-Pacific Regional Gender Strategy and

Action Plan 2017–2019.

The Assessment was conducted under the overall supervision of Somsak Pipoppinyo, FAO Representative Nepal,

and the technical supervision of Clara Mi Young Park, Regional Gender Social and Rural Development Officer for

Asia-Pacific, and Arjun Thapa, Programme Officer and Gender Focal Point FAO Nepal.

An initial CGA was prepared by Dr Milan Adhikary, an independent consultant. The report benefited from technical

editing and comments by Monika Percic, Loïs Archimbaud and Flavia Grassi of FAO.

Special thanks go to the people interviewed and consulted during the processes and the FAO Nepal Country

Office staff for their support in producing this report.

vii

Acronyms and abbreviations

ADB Asian Development Bank

ADS Agriculture Development Strategy

CAESC Community Agriculture Extension Service Centre

CBS Central Bureau of Statistics

CFUG Community Forest Users Group

CGA Country Gender Assessment

CPF Country Programming Framework

CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

CTEVT Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training

DFID Department for International Development (United Kingdom)

DoA Department of Agriculture

DoLS Department of Livestock Services

FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

GDP gross domestic product

GEED Gender Equity and Environment Division

GEM Gender Empowerment Measure

GESI gender equality and social inclusion

GII Gender Inequality Index

GNI Gross national income

GRB gender-responsive budget

HDI Human Development Index

IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development

IWMI International Water Management Institute

LDC least developed country

MDG Millennium Development Goal

MoAD Ministry of Agricultural Development

MoF Ministry of Finance

MoFALD Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development

MoFSC Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation

MoHP Ministry of Health and Population

MoLD Ministry of Livestock Development

MoWCSW Ministry of Women Children and Social Welfare

MoUD Ministry of Urban Development

NDHS Nepal Demographic Health Survey

NLSS Nepal Living Standard Survey

NPC National Planning Commission

PDNA Post-Disaster Needs Assessment

SDG Sustainable Development Goal

SAARC South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

USAID United States Assistance for International Development

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

UN Women United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women

VDC Village Development Committee

WCO World Customs Organization

WFP World Food Programme

WFDD Women Farmer Development Division

WFWP Women for Water Partners

COUNTRY GENDER ASSESSMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND THE RURAL SECTOR IN NEPAL ix

Executive summary

The Country Gender Assessment (CGA or Assessment)

for agriculture and rural development in Nepal was

undertaken in 2017 primarily to inform the

gender-sensitive country-level planning and

programming of the Food and Agriculture Organization

of the United Nations (FAO), and to contribute to the

implementation of FAO’s Policy on Gender Equality at

the country level. The CGA explores existing gender

relations and inequalities in various agricultural

subsectors, their causes, and their impacts on the

social and economic development of agriculture and

the rural economy. The CGA also provides analysis of

crucial policies, strategies, plans and programmes,

and highlights key elements for the promotion of

gender equality in agriculture and rural development,

and for strengthening rural women’s social and

economic empowerment.

In Nepal, agriculture contributes one-third of the gross

domestic product (GDP) and about three-quarters

of the population work in the sector. The role of

women in the sector is crucial given that over

80 percent of women are employed in agriculture.

Yet, the conditions of employment for the majority

of rural women are perilous, since they mainly work

as subsistence agricultural producers. Shifts in the

traditional division of labour are noted, with many

women taking up additional responsibilities such as

ploughing and marketing, due to job-related

out-migration of rural men. The shortage of labour has

also caused the abandonment of rural agricultural land,

contributing to a decline in agricultural production.

Yet, women’s ownership of land is increasing:

female-headed households accounted for about

one-fifth of total agricultural landholders in 2011,

which represents a rise of 10 percent compared to

2001. This is an important development, as

land-ownership rights remain a major constraint for

most women.

As per census data, wages in agriculture as well as

in non-agriculture sectors have increased more than

fourfold over the period 1995-2011 (CBS, 2014c).

However, studies have shown a persistent

gender-biased wage gap throughout the country

that is especially visible in agriculture: women receive

wages about 25 percent lower than men, despite legal

provisions for equal pay between the sexes.

The entrepreneurial potential of women still remains

largely untapped. Evidence shows that in Nepal,

farms managed by women produce less value per

hectare than those managed by men, suggesting

the existence of gender inequalities, particularly in

accessing, adopting and using technologies. Women

and men agricultural producers have often very distinct

sets of agricultural knowledge, skills and criteria for

choosing crop varieties and performing activities,

such as selecting seed, cultivating, harvesting and

processing crops. Rural women are constrained by

their weak decision-making and bargaining power,

triple-work burden (productive, reproductive and

community work), limited knowledge about

market demand and supply, as well as restricted

opportunities for setting-up micro-enterprises and

agriculture businesses.

The Assessment highlights gender-biased gaps at

policy and legislative levels. For example, at the

constitutional level, access to land for agricultural

purpose is considered a farmers’ fundamental

right; however, women’s ownership of land is still

constrained. Overall, gender equality often only

exists in laws and policies, and is not adequately

implemented on the ground for the benefit of rural

women. Findings of the Assessment indicate that

government policy is limited to meeting targets of

women’s participation in programmes and projects

rather than addressing the root causes of gender

inequalities in agriculture and the wider rural economy.

The Assessment recommends addressing gaps in

policy, legislation and implementation through a

set of measures, including lobbying for a greater

allocation of direct gender-responsive budgeting,

concrete recognition of rural women’s contribution

to the agricultural sector, addressing root causes

of employment inequalities and disparities in rural

women’s access to and control over resources, the

enhancement of women’s roles in decision-making

positions and their competitiveness in a business

environment, as well as for the supply and availability

of gender-sensitive agriculture-related technologies,

research, education and extension services.

INTRODUCTION1©

FAO

COUNTRY GENDER ASSESSMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND THE RURAL SECTOR IN NEPAL2

1.1 Background and rationale

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United

Nations (FAO) here recognize the importance of

gender equality, both as a human right, and for the

achievement of its mandate to eradicate hunger

and poverty worldwide by raising levels of nutrition,

increasing agricultural productivity, managing natural

resources and improving the lives of rural populations.

The FAO’s Policy on Gender Equality identifies gender

mainstreaming and women-targeted interventions

as a twofold strategy for the advancement of gender

equality in the agricultural and rural sector. In this

regard, the policy sets out a number of minimum

standards for gender mainstreaming. These include

a requirement to undertake a Country Gender

Assessment (CGA or Assessment) in order to inform

FAO’s country-level planning and programming,

especially the formulation and revision of the Country

Programming Framework (CPF), as well as any other

FAO interventions at the country level in line with the

Government of Nepal’s development priorities and

FAO’s mandate.

Against this backdrop, the objective of the Assessment

is to analyse the agricultural and rural sector of Nepal

from a gender perspective at the macro (policy),

meso (institutional) and micro (community and

household) levels in order to identify gender-based

gaps and inequalities in access to critical productive

resources, assets, services and opportunities.

In particular, the Assessment identifies the needs

and constraints of both women and men in selected

areas of FAO’s competence. The Assessment also

provides recommendations and guidance to promote

gender equality and women’s empowerment in future

programming and projects, and identifies possible

partners for gender-related activities in Nepal.

Overall, the Assessment aims to be a tool for

FAO Nepal, the Government of Nepal, and other

development partners to better mainstream gender

equality and enhance the promotion of empowerment

of rural women in future projects and programmes by

providing background information and baseline data

on gender roles, and the status of rural women in the

agriculture and rural sector.

1.2 Methodology

Primarily guided by the objectives of the Assessment,

a desk review of available secondary information on

the status of gender equality in Nepal was carried

out with a focus on the agriculture and rural sector.

The CGA explores existing gender relations and

inequalities in various agricultural subsectors, as well

as their causes and their impacts on socio-economic

rural development. Secondary data was reviewed to

understand the socio-economic, demographic and

political situation of rural women as compared to

men. A review of pertinent literature on the existing

policies and legal frameworks, legislation and national

machinery, and analysis in relation to the Convention

on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination

Against Women (CEDAW) recommendations for

gender equality and women’s empowerment were

also undertaken. In addition, relevant documents from

FAO, the Government of Nepal and other national

and international agencies were reviewed. Primary

information and quantitative data were also collected

through key informant interviews with six government

and one FAO staff at the field level in Kavre. There

were two focus group discussions with male and

female farmers’ groups (six male and six female)

of the Shatrujit Management Agriculture Cooperatives

and local stakeholders such as vegetable traders,

members of dairy cooperatives and district agriculture

office staff.

1.3 History of FAO in Nepal

FAO has been a longstanding partner of the

Government of Nepal on agriculture and food

security issues. After becoming a member of FAO in

1951, Nepal welcomed an FAO representative office

in 1977 in Kathmandu. Since then, FAO has been

supporting activities related to poverty reduction,

rural employment generation, and food and nutrition

security, among other activities through more than

400 projects. The current CPF outlines the

Government of Nepal medium-term priorities for

technical assistance by FAO for the period 2013-2017.

FAO’s strength lies in providing technical assistance

and sharing best practices in agriculture and food

security issues based on its worldwide experience.

The formulation process of the new CPF (2018-2022)

started in 2017 and will benefit from the insights made

in this Assessment.

INTRODUCTION

COUNTRY GENDER ASSESSMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND THE RURAL SECTOR IN NEPAL 3

INTRODUCTION

©FAO, 2014 ……………©FAO


INTRODUCTION

1.4 Organization of the Assessment

The Assessment is organized taking into account

FAO’s guidelines to prepare a CGA of agriculture and

the rural economy. Following this introductory section,

the second section presents a brief profile of the

country with information on Nepal’s socio-economic

situation, agriculture and rural development, and

human development and gender. The third section

delves into policies, legislative and institutional

frameworks for gender equality and women’s

empowerment in agriculture and rural development.

The fourth section provides an overview of gender

inequalities in agriculture and the rural sector.

This section also touches upon agriculture

cooperatives, rural finance and extension services,

exploring the gender gaps in the current system.

The fifth and final section consists of a summary of

major findings and recommendations for government

policy and FAO actions with a view to strengthening

attention to gender equality in the future strategy and

partnership in Nepal.

©shutterstock/dreamwalkster

NEPAL COUNTRY CONTEXT2©

FAO


2.1 National social and economic situation

Nepal is a multi-ethnic Himalayan country located

in South Asia. It is classified as a least developed

country (LDC) by the United Nations Committee for

Development Policy and has been a member of the

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

(SAARC) since its creation in 1985. Geographically,

Nepal can be divided into three regions: plain

land (Terai), hills, and mountains. In altitude, the

mountainous regions range from 4 877 metres to

8 848 metres above sea level, account for about

35 percent of the total land area and are home to

around 7 percent of the total population. The hill

regions, which range from 610 metres to 4 876

metres above sea level, are densely populated, and

account for 43 percent of the total population and

42 percent of the total land area. The Terai, the flat

river plain of the Ganges alluvial soil, occupied about

23 percent of the total land area of the country,

and accounts for 50 percent of the total population

(CBS, 2014b). Nepal’s agricultural land occupies

28.7 percent of the total land of the country in 2015,

consisting of arable land (14.7 percent), permanent

pastures (12.5 percent) (CIA, 2018) and permanent

cropland (1.5 percent), while forest covered 25.4

percent (World Bank, 2017).

Currently, Nepal is a federal parliamentary republic

composed of seven provinces. Although there

have been several years of political instability in the

country, Nepal has made great strides in

socio-economic development over the last two

decades. During this period, primary school

enrolment has increased significantly and the

maternal mortality rate has declined drastically due

to the commitment of the Government to achieve

the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Nepal’s Human Development Index (HDI) value

increased from 0.446 in 2000 to 0.558 in 2015 as

a result of the improvement in life expectancy at

birth, increasing years of schooling and growth in

Nepal’s gross national income (GNI) per capita at

2011 purchasing power parity standing at USD 2 337

in 2015 (UNDP, 2016). Nepal’s HDI value for 2015

puts the country in the medium human development

category, positioning it 144th out of 188 countries

and territories worldwide.

Nevertheless, Nepal still lags behind many countries

in South Asia because of slow progress in key areas

such as life expectancy, health, education and living

standards. In 2015, the HDI score for women stood

at 0.538, as against 0.582 for men, resulting in a

Gender Development Index (GDI)1 value of 0.925

(UNDP, 2015). This difference has categorized

the country into ‘medium to low equality’ in HDI

achievements. Likewise, the Nepal Gender Inequality

Index (GII)2 was at 0.497 in 2015, placing the country

115th out of 159 countries (UNDP, 2016). However,

the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM)3 in Nepal

has shown progress going from 0.391 in 2001 to

0.563 in 2011 (CBS, 2014c), mainly thanks to political

change and strengthened policy attention to social

inclusion. The country still ranks low on international

governance indicators such as Transparency

International’s Corruption Perception Index 2017

with a score of 31 on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt)

to 100 (very clean) (Transparency International, 2017),

placing the country 122nd out of 180 countries.

This has been a major area of concern for most of

Nepal’s development partners.

The economy has been affected by many factors in

recent years, not least the devastating earthquake of

25 April 2015, which killed nearly 9 000 people and

caused huge disruptions to trade. Consequently, the

country registered a budget deficit of -2.5 percent of

the GDP, and weak economic growth (GDP of

0.4 percent) in 2016 (CIA, 2018). Current growth

levels are highly dependent on remittances.

Remittances have become one of the foremost

sources of income in Nepal. The percentage of

households receiving some sort of remittance

increased from 23 percent in 1995/96 to nearly

56 percent in 2010/11 and remittances accounted for

17 percent of all household income at the national

level according to the Nepal Living Standards Survey

2010/11 (CBS, 2011). Remittances received by

Nepalese households accounted for as much as

31.3 percent of GDP in 2016 (World Bank, 2017).

1 The GDI measures gender gaps in human development achievements.2 The GII is an inequality index that shows the loss in potential human development due to disparity in achievements in empowerment and

economic status between men and women.3 The GEM seeks to measure relative female representation in economic and political power.

NEPAL COUNTRY CONTEXT



Based on the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI),

26.6 percent of the population in Nepal, equivalent to

almost 7.5 million people, lived in multidimensional

poverty in 2014 (UNDP, 2016). Among the multi-

dimensionally poor in Nepal, slightly more than

one-third (9.3 percent of the total population) suffers

from severe multidimensional poverty. In addition,

14.4 percent of the population’s lives are at risk of

falling into multidimensional poverty (UNDP, 2016).

The MPI shows that one-quarter of the population

in Nepal faces overlapping deprivations in health,

education and/or living conditions at the same

time. The percentage of multidimensionally poor

population is close to that of the population living

below the national income poverty line (25.2 percent)

(UNDP, 2016). Due to the nation’s political instability

and slow economic growth, significant challenges

remain to graduate Nepal from the LDC category by

2030 (NPC, 2013a).

2.2 Agriculture and rural development

The agriculture sector contributed one-third

(32.1 percent) of Nepal’s total GDP in 2014/15,

despite agriculture’s growth decline to 0.8 percent

in 2014/15, from an average of 2.9 percent over the

last decade (MoF, 2016). Of the total agricultural GDP,

the crop sector takes up almost half, while livestock

accounts for one-quarter, followed by vegetables

(10 percent), forestry (8 percent), and fruits and

spices such as ginger and cardamom (7 percent)

in 2015 (Figure 1). Integrated crop and livestock

subsistence farming systems along with the

predominance of smallholder farmers (with less than

0.5 hectares of land holdings)4 are the main features

of agriculture in Nepal. Two-thirds of the population

still depends on agriculture as their main occupation.

Of the total number of households (5.42 million) in

the Population Census of 2011, 71 percent legally

own agriculture holdings with livestock and poultry

(CBS, 2014d).

4 According to the 2011 National Sample Census of Agriculture, the total agriculture holdings area stands at 2 525 639 hectares in 2011 which, however, has shrunk by 128 400 hectares from 2001 (CBS, 2014c). On the other hand, the total number of agriculture holders has increased by 4 670 000 over the same period of time, resulting in a man-land ratio of 10.5 in 2011 against 8.7 in 2001 (CBS, 2014c). The average agricultural land area in the country is 0.7 hectare comprising an average of 3.2 parcels. The holding size is smaller in urban (0.5 hectare) than rural areas (0.7 hectare).

Figure 1: Contribution of agricultural sub-sectors to total agricultural GDP, 2015 (in percentage)

Source: Karki, 2015.

8% Forest

26% Livestock

49% Crop

10% Vegetable

7% Fruits and spices


The distribution of agricultural land is uneven as the

majority of small farmers operate only 18 percent of

the total agricultural land with an average holding

size of less than 0.5 hectare, less than the average

national land holding size (0.7 hectare) (CBS, 2014d).

On the other hand, 22 percent of the land is operated

by large farms with more than 2 hectares. The

remaining 60 percent of land is owned or operated

by medium-sized farms with an average agricultural

land between 0.5 and 2 hectares (CBS, 2014d). The

fragmentation of land is higher in rural as compared

to urban areas, suggesting there may be challenges

in the use of modern technologies. Irrigated

land accounts for about 53 percent of the total

agricultural land area in the country (CBS, 2011).

Farming

In recent years, there has been a gradual shift from

subsistence cereal farming to an intensive

vegetable-based farming system to meet the

increased demand for diverse food. According to

the 2016 Economic Survey, most of the cereal

crop productivity, except maize and buckwheat,

declined in 2015/16 as compared to previous years

(MoF, 2017). The low wheat and barley productivity

can be attributed to the late onset of monsoon

for rice plantation, and disruptions in the supply of

fertilizers and fuel for irrigation due to obstructions

on the border related to political protests. However,

maize, the second most important food grain after

rice, has shown better performance due to expansion

of growing areas and more rainfall.

In general, potato is considered a profitable crop

(with a benefit-cost ratio of 2.24) due to its high

market price (Dhital, 2017). Women, in particular,

are attracted to cultivation of potato due to its short

production cycle and immediate earning potential.

Fruits crops, especially banana, have expanded

and are being commercially farmed, particularly in

western Nepal. Growing bananas is attractive for

smallholder farmers thanks to support from various

government and non-governmental organizations

(NGOs) focusing on poverty alleviation and women’s

entrepreneurship development programmes5

(MoF, 2016). Likewise, tea and coffee have received

popular markets in recent years but performance

has not yet been satisfactory (MoF, 2016).

Livestock

Livestock is an integral part of the Nepalese farming

system. In most cases, livestock is kept as an asset as

well as for manure and draft purposes. In rural areas,

biogas can be generated from dung, so that livestock

also serves as a source of energy for lighting as well

as cooking purposes. According to the 2011 Census

of Agriculture cow and buffalo dung serve as cooking

fuel and biogas for more than 15 percent of total

rural households (CBS, 2014d).

As per the 2011 Census of Agriculture, the total

livestock headcount (small and large) is 22.4 million

(not including mules), of which goats account for half

of the total population (Figure 2) (CBS, 2014d). The

population of large livestock, such as cattle, buffalo

and yaks (chauris), has decreased when compared to

the previous agricultural census (2001). However,

a significant increase in the number of goats

(up by 59 percent), pigs (up by 30 percent), and

sheep (up by 29 percent) has been reported

(CBS, 2013). Likewise, the total number of poultry

and ducks went up by 49 and 9 percent, respectively.

This trend can be attributed to programmes of

various institutions, including the District Office

of Livestock Services (DoLS), that promote

women’s empowerment.

An increment of about 0.35 per capita kg of goat

meat and 1.93 per capita kg of other animal meat has

been officially recorded in 2011 in comparison with

2001 (CBS, 2014c). In the case of milk, over the same

period of time there was a reduction in milk

production of almost 9 per capita kg. The slight

increment in meat production could be due to

the implementation of meat-oriented livestock

credit programmes in 2010/11. However, the poor

performance of livestock in milk production is

attributed to various factors related to breed, feed

and management. Protein from livestock sources in

the diet was as low as 15.92 percent (compared to

the recommended 30 percent) in 2012/13

(CBS, 2014d), but demand is increasing by

8-10 percent annually (MoAD, 2014a). Rising incomes

are a source of the increasing livestock imports

(ADS, 2014). The introduction of milk-oriented

livestock credit programmes in 2014/15 has showed

an ascending trend in milk and meat production in

recent years.


5 Based on the case study conducted by the author in UNDP’s UNDAF-2 Evaluation, conducted in August 2016 at Sunhara Agriculture Cooperative Ltd. Pavera VDC,2 Kailali. See also Case study of Helvitas to support the statement “Up-Scaling Banana farming through private sector” found at https://radiokarnaliaawaj.com/getMP3File.php?docid=5



Figure 2: Contribution by types of livestock to the total livestock population (in percentage)

50% Goat

3% Sheep

14% Buffalo

4% Pig

29% Cattle

Source: Karki, 2015.

Fisheries and aquaculture

In Nepal, the interest in and practice of aquaculture

has grown since the early 1980s. Over the years,

pond aquaculture has developed as the most viable

and popular production system and contributed

to 0.5 percent of the total agricultural GDP in

2013/14 (MoAD, 2014b). The majority of aquaculture

production takes place in the Terai plains, which are

home to 94 percent of the fish ponds. The integrated

aquaculture system, combining a poly-culture of

carp in ponds with livestock (pigs, ducks, etc.) and

horticulture (bananas) was introduced several years

ago, but the technique has not been successfully

expanded due to management complexities

and health-related risks (hygiene and diseases).

However, Pant et al. (2009) report that a range of

benefits including increased household income,

food and nutrition security, along with women’s

empowerment, has been achieved through

community fish production development and

marketing cooperatives that are exclusively owned

and managed by women thanks to integrated

agriculture-aquaculture.

The Nepal Three-Year Interim Plan (2011–2013)

stressed the importance of the fish supply for its high

protein value. Looking at it from a food security and

source of income aspect, aquaculture programmes

could be a livelihood opportunity for the rural poor

(Pant et al., 2009). Since the last census in 2001,

the number of ponds has increased by 26 percent

from 2010/11 and further increased by 54 percent

in 2013/14. This growth resulted in a 141 percent

increase in fish production in metric tonnes over the

same period of time (MoAD, 2014b).

Despite the fact that agriculture is playing a

significant role in rural livelihoods, Nepal’s economy

and agricultural trade has been in deficit. The growth

of imports has outpaced exports and the agricultural

trade deficit has increased over the years from

USD 124 million in 1995 to USD 373 million in 2009

(MoAD, 2014a). Agricultural trade is dominated by

the export of lentils, tea, cardamom, and medicinal

and aromatic plants, while imports mainly consist

of fruits, cereals, vegetables, beans (mostly peas),

dairy products, animal meat, and raw materials for

processing (oilseeds) and manufacturing (fibres

for carpets, garments and textiles). However, the

Agriculture Development Strategy (ADS) has foreseen

good potential in vegetables, fruits, beverages,

dairy and meat for import substitution through

sufficient production.


2.3 Human development

2.3.1 Demography and population dynamics

In 2016, Nepal had a population of 28.9 million with

an annual population growth rate of 1.1 percent as

compared to 2.4 percent in 1990 (World Bank, 2017).

This decrease in growth rate is attributed to both

a decline in fertility and the emigration of youth.

The annual population growth rates in 2011 varied

significantly between urban (3.38 percent) and

rural areas (0.98 percent). As per the 2011 National

Population and Housing Census, the number of

households stood at 5.4 million with an average

household size of 4.88 in 2011 as compared to 5.44

in 2001 at the national level (CBS, 2012). The rural

population accounted for 83 percent of the total

population in 2011, a 3 percentage point decrease

from the 2001 census (CBS, 2012).

The 2008 Nepal Labour Force Survey (NLFS II)

indicates a significant increase of 29 percent in

the total number of households registered in 2008

compared to a decade earlier. However, during

the same period the population aged 0-14 years

decreased from 41.3 to 38.7 percent, along with

decreases in the age dependency and sex ratios

(CBS, 2009).

With a national sex ratio of 94.1 women for every

100 men in 2011, Nepal has the lowest total sex

ratio among SAARC countries (CBS, 2016). The 2011

National Population and Housing Census reported a

high sex ratio differential (between 103 and 105 boys

per 100 girls) in early age (below 15 years), which is

most likely due to the preference for sons, indicating

the prevalence of discriminatory attitudes against

women and girls in the society (CBS, 2014b).

Migration plays a major socio-economic and

demographic role in Nepal. Since the insurgency

period (1996-2006), youth migration surged as

young people sought employment opportunities

abroad. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics

(CBS), 7.2 percent of the total population was

absentee population in the 2011 National Population

and Housing Census in comparison with 3.3 percent

in 2001 (CBS, 2014c). Although the male migrant

population was recorded to be considerably higher

than the female one in the 2011 National Population

and Housing Census, the share of female migrants of

the total migrant population grew from 10.9 percent

in 2001 to 12.4 percent in 2011 (CBS, 2014c). Female

migrants contributed to 11 percent of remittance

to GDP in 2001 (latest year available) (CBS, 2014c).

Geographically, more than 90 percent of the

migration is from rural areas, mainly the Terai and

hill regions of Nepal.


Table 1: Sex ratio, rural and urban population, and annual population growth rate

Census

Sex Ratio (women/men) Population (percentage)

Annual population growth rate (percentage)Rural Urban Total Rural Urban

2001 98.8 106.4 99.8 86.1 13.9 2.25

2011 92.3 104.0 94.1 82.9 17.1 1.35

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), 2014b



Although India has historically been the primary

destination for both women and men who migrate, in

recent years, migration to Arab nations, Europe and

other countries has increased significantly. The lack

of well-paying employment opportunities in Nepal,

and more lucrative labour markets abroad have

pushed youth to look for opportunities overseas.

With the surge of male migration, there has been

an increase in the proportion of female-headed

households in Nepal, rising from 11 percent in 2001

to 26 percent in 2011 according to the 2011/12

agricultural census (CBS, 2013). The increasing

number of female-headed households coupled with

high participation of women in the agriculture labour

force could be amongst the causes of the

so-called phenomenon of ‘feminization of

agriculture’. Nevertheless, additional research is

needed in order to substantiate this assumption.

2.3.2 Health

In Nepal, access to health services remains a

challenge particularly in rural and remote parts of the

country. This is basically due to poor infrastructure,

lack of sufficient and qualified medical workers, and

socio-cultural barriers. However, in recent years,

significant progress has been made in the health

sector, particularly in terms of access to health care,

contributing to decreased gender disparities

(ADB, 2010). Women’s life expectancy had increased

to 71.4 years in 2015, which is slightly higher than

men’s (68.3 years) (World Bank, 2017). The total

fertility rate (total births per woman) has declined

from 4 in 2000 to 2.2 in 2015 (World Bank, 2017). In

urban areas, it is less than 2 children (1.54), which is

below the fertility replacement level, whereas it is

3.08 in rural areas (CBS, 2014b). In 2011, the maternal

mortality rate, though still high (281 deaths per

100 000 live births), was half of what it was two

decades ago (543 deaths per 100 000 live births)

(MoHP, 2012). Figure 3 illustrates the significant

improvement in childhood mortality between 2001

and 2011.

Though the Nepal 2011 Demographic and Health

Survey revealed no significant difference in childhood

mortality between boys and girls, a distinct disparity

was reported between populations in rural and urban

areas (MoHP, 2012). According to this survey, infant

mortality in rural areas was 55 against 38 in urban

areas per 1 000 live births in 2011 (MoHP, 2012).

This difference between rural and urban areas is

also prevalent in neonatal, post-neonatal, child and

under-five mortality rates.

Figure 3: Rates of childhood mortality per 1 000 live births

39

100

80

60

40

20

0

De

ath

s p

er

100

00

0

3326

13

64

46

29

9

91

54

Neonatal Post-neonatal Infant Child Under five child mortality mortality mortality mortality mortality

Notes: Neonatal mortality: the probability of dying within the first month of life; Post-neonatal mortality: the difference between infant and neonatal mortality; Infant mortality: the probability of dying between birth and the first birthday; Child mortality: the probability of dying between exact ages one and five; Under-five mortality: the probability of dying between birth and fifth birthday

2001 2011

Source: MoHP, 2012



Over the period 2006–2011, there has been a

significant improvement in women’s health status.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population

(MoHP), 58 percent of women received antenatal

care from a skilled provider in 2011 as compared

to 44 percent in 2006 (MoHP, 2012). Similarly,

institutional (hospital) delivery has also increased

from 18 percent in 2006 to 35 percent in 2011

(MoHP, 2012). The improvement can be attributed

to the government’s priority on meeting the MDG

targets through the endorsement of the Safe

Motherhood Programme and Policy on Skilled Birth

Attendants. The health sector of Nepal has been

effective in mobilizing female workers and volunteers

at the community and district levels. Nevertheless,

birth registration, which is compulsory, is still quite

low for boys, at 42 percent, and even lower for girls,

at 40 percent (CBS, 2014c). (CBS, 2014c).

Overall, the nutritional status6 of children under five

years old in Nepal has improved over the last decade.

The proportion of stunted children declined from

50.5 percent in 2001 to 40.5 percent in 2011

(see Table 2). A similar pattern was found in

underweight children, the proportion of which

dropped by 20.5 percentage points, from 48.3 to

28.8 percent, over the same period of time.

However, malnutrition rates vary significantly

between urban and rural areas. The nutritional

status of rural children remains lower over time

as compared to that of urban children. Likewise,

prevalence of anaemia among children is reported

higher in rural (27.9 percent) than in urban areas

(22.9 percent), with rural girls aged 23 months and

under at highest risk of developing anaemia

(MoHP, 2012). It was reported that the situation was

more severe in the mid and far-western regions of

Nepal. According to the Nepal Living Standard Survey

(NLSS) 2010/11, the stunting rate for girls (43 percent)

was higher by 2.9 percent than that rate for boys

(40.1 percent) in 2011 (CBS, 2011), indicating gender

disparities in nutritional terms between girls

and boys.

6 Child growth is internationally recognized as an important indicator of nutritional status and health in populations. WHO defines stunting as low height for age, and wasting as low weight for age, whilst underweight is a composite indicator that can reflect ‘wasting’ or ‘stunting’, or both and may be difficult to interpret (available at http://www.who.int/nutgrowthdb/about/introduction/en/index2.html).

Table 2: Nutrition status of children under-five years old in rural and urban areas (in percentage)

2001 2011

Rural Urban Total Rural Urban Total

Wasting 9.7 8.2 9.6 11.2 8.2 10.9

Underweight 49.4 33.0 48.3 30.0 16.5 28.8

Stunting 51.5 36.7 50.5 41.8 26.7 40.5

Source: MoHP, 2012, cited from CBS 2014c



Nationwide, the prevalence of contraceptive use

among married women age 15-49 years was 49.7

percent in 2011 against the target of 67 percent to

be met by 2015 (MoHP, 2012). Although Nepal’s

Constitution guarantees women the right to

reproductive health, women and girls suffer from

issues such as uterine prolapse and chaupadi

(a social tradition of isolating women during

menstruation) in rural and remote areas of Nepal.

They lack knowledge of menstrual hygiene and face

restricted feeding practices during menstruation and

post-pregnancy, mainly due to socio-cultural taboos.

Studies have shown that women’s empowerment is

positively associated with women’s access to and

use of reproductive health services (MoHP, 2012).

2.3.3 Education and literacy

In line with the United Nations Convention on

the Rights of the Child (1989), the Government of

Nepal has placed an emphasis on educating every

child and has enacted legislation accordingly.7 As a

result, the country has made significant progress in

improving literacy rates over the last decade. As per

data from CBS (2014a), the overall literacy rate has

increased for both men and women. However, there

are gender gaps. The male literacy rate (76 percent)

remained much higher than the female literacy rate

(58 percent) in 2011, and sex ratios for high school

enrolment of 0.91 and tertiary level of 0.71 reflect

that education has not yet reached gender parity.

The 2011 NLSS reveals a significant growth in girl

enrolment rates over the years, narrowing gender

gaps over the last ten years (CBS, 2011). However,

the national net attendance rate for girls at grade 5

(secondary school) is still low at 15.7 percent against

the 100 percent target set for 2015.

Though significant improvements in enrolment

of girls in higher education are reported, there is

an increase in dropout rates due to marriage and

pregnancy. The national youth literacy rate

(15-24 years old) was 88.6 percent in 2013 with little

difference between this rate and that of women aged

15-24 years old (82.7 percent). There is a notable

gap between youth literacy levels in urban and rural

areas, particularly among female youth. In urban

areas, 96.3 percent of men and 91 percent of women

are literate, while in the rural areas, the rates are

91.9 percent and 76.2 percent respectively in 2011

(NPC, 2013b). In the 15-49-year age group, more

than 40 percent of women versus only 14 percent of

men have never been to school in 2011 (NPC, 2013b).

2.3.4 Employment

Stark gender disparities can be noticed in the

economic sector as well. According to the 2008

NLFS II, the agricultural sector employed nearly

three-quarters of all workers in the country

(73.9 percent) (CBS, 2009). Agriculture employs

a very significant share of the total of women

employed, with 84 percent of women employed

in the agricultural sector compared to 62 percent

of men employed in the same sector. The majority

of the work force in agriculture was employed as

subsistence producers (70 percent) with gendered

differences: 78 percent of women and 60 percent of

men worked as subsistence producers. In rural areas,

elementary occupations as well as crafts and related

trades were sources of employment for both men

and women. However, rural men were up to twice

more likely to be employed in these non-agriculture

related occupations than rural women (CBS, 2009).

Despite the decrease in the proportion of children

(aged 5 to 14 years) engaged in economic activity

(child labour force participation rate) in rural areas

from 43.3 to 36.7 percent between 1998/99 and

2008, the overall incidence of child labour8 in 2008

was still high with 11.1 percent of boys and

15.5 percent of girls aged 5-9 years already

economically active (CBS, 2009). These ratios were

higher for children aged 10-14 years, with

47.1 percent for boys and 58.6 percent for girls. Most

child labour was found in agriculture, where the vast

majority of children (78 percent of the total number

of children aged 5 to 14 years currently employed)

reportedly worked as subsistence farmers in 2008

(CBS, 2009). Although the proportion of children

(aged 10 to 14 years) engaged in agriculture-related

work has reduced significantly over time, the

proportion of girls in agricultural occupations has

increased from 63 percent in 2001 to 69 percent in

2011, which was about 15 percentage points higher

than that of boys in 2011 (CBS, 2014c).

7 For example the Government of Nepal has drafted a bill for the Revision and Integration of the Act on Children which addresses children’s right to have education in their mother tongue at the elementary level, free education up to the secondary level, as well as access to free text books and educational materials.

8 The ILO defines ‘child labour’ as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to

physical and mental development. ILO, 2012 (available at http://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/lang--en/index.htm).



In 2011, about 77 percent of economically active

girls and women (aged 10 and above) as compared to

55 percent of economically active boys and men

in the same age group were engaged in agriculture,

including forestry and fisheries (CBS, 2014c).

Agricultural employment figures from 2001 and

2011 show a shift of women into the agriculture

labour force that could be correlated with higher

male migration rates, indicating an increasing

‘feminization’ of agriculture (CBS, 2014c).9

In 2011, the involvement of men and women in

non-agriculture sectors such as the service sector

was found to be higher by 3-4 percentage points

compared to 2001, while it decreased in the industry

and construction sectors (Figure 4).

However, men’s involvement in the service sector

was 12.2 percentage points higher than women’s

in 2011 (CBS, 2014c). Within the service sector,

the proportion of female workers has increased,

as women have started to work in places such

as companies and hotels, as well as in houses as

domestic labour and in educational sub-sectors.

Such increases are due to Nepal’s thriving tourism

industry and export business, along with

better-organized ways for companies to hire

human resources.

The majority of both economically active men

(57 percent) and women (79 percent) are

self-employed, including family labourers

(CBS, 2014c). This indicates that there are still

employment opportunities in the formal economy,

particularly for women. The limited labour

opportunities in the agricultural sector have forced

many women to seek employment opportunities

in other sectors (for example in construction) in

Nepal or abroad. Female migration for employment

abroad has increased thirtyfold, from 0.19 percent

in 2006/07 to 5.96 percent in 2012 (UN Women

et al., 2016a). As per the Population Monograph

of Nepal, wages in agriculture as well as in

non-agriculture sectors have increased more than

fourfold from 1995/96 to 2010/2011 (CBS, 2014c).

However, despite legal provisions for equal wages

between men and women, discrimination remains in

terms of cash or in kind remuneration. In 2010//11,

male wage earners (cash and in kind) received

on average NPR 50 and NPR 90 per day more

than female wage earners in agriculture and

non-agriculture sectors, respectively (CBS, 2014c).

The wage gap is higher in rural areas, where women’s

wages normally are lower by 25 to 50 percent than

those of men (UNESCO, 2015). Unemployment

and under-employment of the economically active

Figure 4: Percentage of economically active population by sex and sector

8.9

100

80

60

40

20

0

Pe

rce

nt

4.2

2001 2011

Source: CBS, 2014c

Agriculture, forestry and fisheries Industry

60.2

26.4

12.5

1.2

72.8

13.37.9 5.3

54.6

29.4

3.8 0.8

76.7

17.2

Construction Service

9 According to the 2008 labour force survey, there were fewer men (4.7 million) in the Nepali rural labour force than women (5.6 million) (CBS, 2009). It is reported that the majority of the rural “missing men” are in the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) and Malaysia for work (ILO, 2017).

Male Female Male Female


©FAO


population (57 percent of the total population)

is another challenge in the country, with about

30 percent of the economically active population

either unemployed or underemployed.

2.3.5 Women’s decision-making power, voice and political representation

The Election Act (2007) of Nepal stipulated a

33 percent quota of women’s representation in

the Constituent Assembly (CA). As a result, the

proportion of women increased up to 32.5 percent

in the first CA (CARE, 2015). Although this declined

to 29.5 percent in the second CA, it is still the highest

percentage among South Asian nations. However,

as political transition continues in Nepal, the

subsequent changing of governments has presented

a range of challenges when it comes to ensuring the

participation of women in grassroots-level politics

as few local elections have been held over the past

two decades.

The first local-level elections took place in 1997

following the advent of democracy in 1990. Although

the Local Governance Act introduced in 1997

mandated only one woman to represent the ward,

Village Development Committee (VDC) and

district-level Committees and Councils, it brought

more than 39 000 women into local political bodies

in 1997 (Bhadra et al., 2007). These women were

grassroots-level committee members responsible

for mobilizing VDC funding. They promoted

citizenship certificates, and the registration of births,

deaths and marriages in their local areas. Women,

as representatives, were also active in mediation

of gender and social disputes related to domestic

violence against women, polygamy and witchcraft,

and in campaigns against alcoholism, drugs and child

trafficking (World Bank et al., 2009). However, due

to the political instability, local-level elections did

not take place in 2002. On the ground, the political

turmoil not only prevented the target populations



from actively engaging in local decision-making

processes to address gender inequalities prevalent

in society, but also excluded disadvantaged and

marginalized groups of women from participating.

Nepal promulgated a new constitution on

20 September 2015 through CA Article 18 (2, 3 and

38) (UN Women et al., 2016b). This new constitution

not only guarantees equal rights to women and

non-discrimination in application of laws, but also

reinforces positive discrimination policies for women

in all sectors including governmental structures and

the political domain. Nepal sets aside 33 percent of

parliamentary seats for women through legislation as

envisaged under Article 84 (8) (Adhikari, 2017). The

constitution also ensures women’s participation in

village assemblies (IFES, 2016).

Despite laws and policies, significant inequalities

remain in relation to recognition of citizenship,

specifically women’s ability to pass citizenship on

to their children whose fathers are unknown,

absent or deceased (UN Women et al., 2016b).

Nepalese women in general and rural women in

particular are vulnerable to gender-based violence

in both the domestic and public sphere, including

exposure to wife battering, physical and sexual

violence, sexual exploitation and harmful practices

such as child or forced marriages (UN Women, 2017).

Rural women (22 percent) are slightly more likely

to experience gender-based violence compared to

urban women (19 percent) according to Nepal 2011

Demographic and Health Survey (MoHP, 2012).10

A Domestic Violence and Punishment Act was passed

in 2009, but it is rarely enforced or acknowledged.

2.3.6 Basic infrastructure and sanitation

Rural infrastructure investments providing basic

services such as electricity, safe drinking water,

sanitation and roads for transportation have the

potential to benefit women through provision of new

livelihood options. Infrastructure improvements also

reduce time, energy, and opportunity costs of rural

women’s domestic and reproductive responsibilities

through increased access to health, education, rural

advisory services, diversified labour markets and

market centres (ADB, 2010).

In 2004, the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation

National Policy and sectoral strategic Action Plan

set out to achieve full water supply and sanitation

coverage by 2017. In 2016, the national proportion of

households using safe drinking water sources

was reported to be 85 percent. However, access

to piped water, considered the safest source, only

reached 44.5 percent of households. This percentage

was even lower in rural areas at 41 percent.11

Rural households are also more likely to be without

access to toilet facilities (37.1 percent) than urban

households (6 percent).12

Whilst in 2016 the total length of road reached

27 990 km, only 59 km of roads were connected to

rail networks. In 2014, only two-thirds of the total

households had been connected with electricity.

Access to electricity for urban households stood at

97 percent against 71 percent for rural households

(MoF, 2016).

10 According to a study conducted in Nepal, literacy status, access to healthcare, wife-husband age difference, and husband’s alcohol consumption are significantly associated with women’s experience of sexual coercion in their married life (Adhikary and Tamang, 2010).

11 Under the Rural Water Scheme, government capital investment is up to 90 percent of the project cost for water users group. The national sanitation coverage has more than doubled from 30 to 62 percent between 2000 and 2011, and reached 80 percent in 2015/16. However, the annual sanitation coverage growth rate in urban and rural areas was only about 1 and 2.7 percent respectively. As a result the sanitation coverage in urban areas increased only by 11 percentage points (from 80 to 91 percent) whereas the coverage in rural area rose more than double (from 25 to 55 percent) over the period 2001-2011 (WFWP, 2015; MoF, 2016; and NPC, 2013b).

12 National sanitation is not adequate in schools, and only 80 percent of community schools have toilets, with only 65 percent having separate

toilets for girls and boys (CBS, 2014a).

POLICY, LEGISLATIVE AND INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT3

©FA

O


Nepal has been party to various international treaties

and agreements aimed at strengthening the status

of women in society, and has adopted a number

of policies and plans of action in this connection.

Particularly with the advent of democracy, Nepal has

amended a number of discriminatory legal acts and

enacted gender parity laws. However, challenges and

obstacles remain in putting these laws into practice.

Numerous civil society organizations have recognized

that, owing to the prevalence of patriarchal mind-sets

in Nepali society, efforts to advance gender equality

are often limited to policy papers. In addition, large

numbers of women and girls, particularly in rural

areas, remain unaware of the laws that exist to protect

their rights. Nepal also suffers from several capacity

constraints. It is recognized that the national

women’s machinery13 needs to be strengthened

(UN Women, 2014a).

3.1 Gender in agriculture and rural development policies and strategies

Mainstreaming gender concerns in national agriculture

and rural development policies, strategies, plans and

programmes is vital not only for achieving gender

equality but also for the societal development of rural

Nepal. Recognizing this fact, the Government of Nepal

has promoted gender equity and social inclusion

(GESI) as an important mechanism to enhance the

contribution of agriculture to poverty and vulnerability

reduction initiatives. This is increasingly making its way

into policies and strategies at the national level taking

up the CEDAW recommendations (CEDAW, 2011).

MoAD has also adopted GESI approaches to reduce

gender, ethnic and caste-related disparities

in agriculture.

Agriculture Development Strategy (2015-2035)

The MoAD has recently approved the ADS, a 20-year

strategy, for the overall advancement of agriculture-

related sectors. The ADS is an overarching policy

adopted by the Government to achieve food

sufficiency, sustainability, competitiveness, and

inclusion. It has given emphasis to the integration of

GESI throughout the ADS design process. The strategy

envisages addressing the food and nutrition security

of the most disadvantaged rural populations, including

lactating and pregnant women, indigenous and

excluded communities, and people in disadvantaged

regions (NPC, 2015a). One of the expected outputs

of the ADS is the establishment of a comprehensive

set of mechanisms at the policy, planning and

implementation levels to ensure gender equity, and

social and geographical inclusion through capacity

development of pertinent institutions at the central

and local levels.

Although GESI is recognized as cross-cutting in

the ADS, GESI provisions are more explicitly integrated

into the ‘Governance’ pillar of the ADS. The ADS has

a 10-year Plan of Action, which includes the

development of a GESI strategy in agriculture. The ADS

recognizes female farmers’ as independent farmers

and ensures adequate budget provision for carrying

out activities towards women’s empowerment,

including women’s access to and control over

productive resources, and women’s leadership to

empower rural women. The ADS establishes a target of

50 percent of farmland to be owned by women only

or through joint ownership to be reached by 2035,

from 10 percent in 2010. It recommends equal wages

for women in agriculture, encourages quantitative

and qualitative participation of male and female

farmers in agriculture development programmes, and

GESI-friendly expansion of agriculture research and

extension programmes. GESI also ensures access of

all marginalized groups to resources essential for

agriculture development such as land and capital.

The ADS recommends the development of a GESI

mechanism to implement the ADS through the

GESI lens.

GESI Strategy Framework (2016) (UN Women, 2016)

The MoAD has given the leadership to UN Women to

prepare the GESI Strategy Framework for the ADS to

address gender inequalities in agriculture. The GESI

Strategy Framework is one of eight actions that the

ADS has envisaged (Figure 5) and should be an

overarching strategy that is needed to operationalize

GESI in agriculture. The GESI Strategy Framework

promotes capacity building of the GESI target groups

for their meaningful participation in decision-making

processes, and advocates the removal of the

institutional and structural barriers to GESI in

agriculture development. It guides the implementation

of the ADS, and ensures the institutionalization of

a GESI-sensitive approach in all components of the

ADS. The GESI Strategy Framework will serve as a tool

to monitor the GESI-specific interventions of the ADS

in agriculture.

13 Refers to government institutional structures for promotion of gender equality and women’s empowerment such as Ministry of Women Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW), National Women Commission (NWC), etc.

POLICY, LEGISLATIVE AND INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT



Figure 5: Conceptual framework for GESI mechanism in the Agriculture Development Strategy

Improved governance (Outcome)

Mechanism developed for GESI and geographical inclusion (Output)

ACTIONS

Strengthening the GESI section

Generation and maintenance of GESI statistics

Strengthening of GESI staff at central

and district levels

Enhancement of participation of men and women farmers

(qualitative and quantitative)

GESI responsive agriculture

extension services

Improvement in access of farmers

Promotion of GESI-responsive

agricultural research

GESI Strategy Framework

Source: Based on MoAD, 2014a

The Government of Nepal has launched various

policies, strategies, plans and programmes aimed at

mainstreaming gender in agriculture. In addition to the

ADS and National Agriculture Policy 2004, a number of

policies have been devised in recent years. Table 3

summarizes the main gender highlights in major

agriculture and rural development-related policies

and strategies.

Table 3: Gender references in agriculture and rural development-related policies and strategies

Title Gender highlights

Agriculture Development Strategy (2015-2035), MoAD

• Addresses food and nutrition security of the most disadvantaged rural populations, including pregnant and lactating women;

• Contains a 10-year Plan of Action, which includes the development of a GESI strategy in agriculture.

Gender Equity and Social Inclusion Strategy Framework (2016), MoAD and UN Women

• An overarching strategy to operationalize GESI in agriculture;• Promotes capacity building of the GESI target groups for their meaningful

participation in decision-making processes.

National Seed Vision (2013-2025)

• Supports equal rights and access to information, skills and services on seed use irrespective of gender, caste and ethnicity across geographical regions.



Title Gender highlights

National Agriculture Policy (2004), MoAD

• Encourages 50 percent participation of women in every possible agricultural activities for gender equality;

• Conducts mobile training programmes to reach villages and homesteads to ensure women’s participation and access to information;

• Identifies and classifies small farmers with fewer resources and land to provide possible facilities;

• Provision of particular programmes to targeted groups/resources for poor land holders (less than 4 ha), and deprived groups (Dalit and Janajati) in development of commercial and competitive agricultural systems;

• Enhances management capacity of women in women’s cooperatives and women in farmers’ groups.

Agribusiness Promotion Policy (2007), MoAD

• Ensures special programmes for the poor, women and Dalits for establishing agricultural entrepreneurs.

Agro-biodiversity Policy (2007) (first revision, 2014), MoAD

• Organizes special programmes for the poor, women and Dalits for the establishment and development of agro-enterprises;

• Explores, promotes and utilizes indigenous knowledge in agriculture by including women, indigenous people and the poor;

• Implements sustainable agro-biodiversity promotion and income-generation programmes.

Gender Mainstreaming Strategy (2006), MoAD

• Commits to achieve 50/50 women-men participation in all administrative mechanisms including MoAD divisions, programmes, committees and boards;

• Commits to increase women’s skills in commercial agriculture, women’s economic empowerment, and institutionalization of gender issues at all levels focusing on women’s participation in commercial agriculture.

Agriculture Mechanization Promotion Policy (2014), MoAD

• Aims to attract youth and women producers in mechanized agriculture and increase their productivity;

• Identifies and promotes adoption of women and environment-friendly technologies and machines to reduce the drudgery of women’s work through agricultural mechanization.

Irrigation Policy (2014) and Water Induced Disaster Management Policy (2016)

• Emphasizes 33 percent of disadvantaged people engaged in water users associations;

• Encourages participation of backward and disadvantaged groups in users group for management.

Climate Change Policy (2011) (Mainlay et al., 2012)

• Ensures the participation of poor people, Dalits, marginalized indigenous communities, women, children and youth in the implementation of climate adaptation and climate change-related programmes;

• Provides capacity building for local bodies and ensures the implementation of local-level activities.

Source: MoAD, 2015; and MoAD, 2016



Nepal has taken responsibility for the achievement of

the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and set

targets and strategies to achieve the 2030 Sustainable

Development Agenda. However, programmes and

strategies need reviewing, refining and reorientation

in the context of SDG 5 on gender equality. As

the SDGs recognize gender inequality as one of

the major impediments for economic prosperity,

peace, harmony, social integration and sustainable

development, the Government aims to address it not

only as a stand-alone goal, but also by mainstreaming

it in all other SDGs with specific inclusive indicators

and targets with resources. The Government has

planned for gender disaggregation of all targets

and indicators to ensure that no one is left behind.

The Government also recognizes the importance

of transparency and good governance at all levels,

which includes ensuring farmers’ access to justice and

security; and the need for formulation of pro-poor and

gender-sensitive policies in agriculture (NPC, 2015a).

3.2 Gender concerns in national plans and programmes

Nepal’s policy on women in its development

endeavour was initiated in its first Five-Year Plan

(1956-1961) with a ‘welfare approach’ that focused on

women’s reproductive role. When the United Nations

named the period 1975-1985 as the Decade of

Women, which coincided with Nepal’s sixth Five-Year

Plan (1980-1985), there was a shift to an ‘efficiency

approach’, which recognized the productive role of

women for the first time in Nepal’s development plans.

The seventh Five-Year Plan (1985-1990) combined

an equal participatory approach with efficiency

approach. However, more concerns were raised after

the restoration of democracy in 1990 (FAO, 2005), and

it was decided to mainstream women’s development

in the eighth Five-Year Plan (1992-1997). A paradigm

shift occurred from Women in Development (WID)

to Gender and Development (GAD) in Nepal’s

development policy during the ninth Five-Year Plan

(1997-2002), which has overtaken subsequent periodic

plans in realization of the need to mainstream gender

equality and women’s empowerment (Bhadra et al.,

2007). Some highlights are included in Table 4.

In line with national periodic plans and priorities, the

Government of Nepal has also formulated a long-term

plan for agriculture development with gender as one of

the major focuses.

Agriculture Perspective Plan (1995-2015)

The Agriculture Perspective Plan aimed at accelerating

agriculture growth by improving the living conditions

of women as one of the three dominant objectives

in addition to eliminating poverty and enhancing

the natural environment. However, the plan lacked

effective gender mainstreaming mechanisms and

gender relations from the onset. In addition, there was

no mention of the importance of gender sensitivity

in the implementing machinery, rules and regulations

(FAO, 2010b). Basically, the plan viewed target groups

as beneficiaries and the focus was on addressing only

their practical needs. The Agriculture Perspective Plan

focused on women but in a very limited way. As a

result, it could not improve the income of women and

smallholder farmers (UN Women, 2016).

3.3 International commitments and legal provisions relevant for gender equality promotion

Nepal is signatory to several treaties and international

human rights instruments supporting women’s rights

and equality, including:

• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms

of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)

ratified in 1991.

• The International Covenant on Civil and

Political Rights (ICCPR) ratified on 14 May 1991.

• The International Covenant on Economic,

Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) acceded

on 14 May 1991.

• Nepal supported the Beijing Declaration and

Platform for Action (BPfA), 1995.

• The MDGs set out targets for gender equality,

women’s empowerment, poverty reduction,

universal primary education, and maternal

health in 2000 (NPC, 2013b).

• The Optional Protocol to the CEDAW was

ratified in 2007.

• The ILO Convention 169 ratified in 2007

marked a significant development in land

reform, land ownership and natural resource

management, and committed the country to

the rights of indigenous peoples (ADB, 2012).

• The Optional Protocol to the Convention to

Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in

Persons, specifically Women and Children

acceded in 2008.



Table 4: National periodic plans for gender integration in agriculture

Plans Integration of gender in agriculture

Fifth plan (1975-1980) Women’s development activities were included in the education, health, employment, agriculture, cooperatives, law and forest sectors.

Sixth plan (1980-1985) Appreciation of women farmers’ contribution to agricultural programmes.

Seventh plan (1985-1990) Women’s participation was enhanced with adopting the policy of fixed quotas, such as a target of 10 percent of women participating in training programmes.

Eighth plan (1992-1997) A provision for enhancing women’s access to agricultural inputs. Institutionalization of women’s contribution to agricultural activities and ensuring women’s participation at the policy level.

Ninth plan (1997-2002) Three strategic approaches were emphasized: women’s empowerment, gender equality and gender mainstreaming in all development activities in agriculture.

Tenth plan (2002-2007) Emphasis on mainstreaming gender in agriculture extension services and working towards women’s capacity development and professional enhancement.

Eleventh plan (2007-2010) Issued joint land ownership certificates (name of both husband and wife). Provision of 20 percent discount on the registration charge whenever land is purchased in the name of a female member of the household.

Twelfth plan (2010-2013) Emphasis on development and use of small and appropriate agricultural tools that reduce women’s workload, save labour and add value. Strengthened the role of women for sustainable peace and development by building their capacity in social, economic and political areas.

Thirteenth plan (2013-2016) Organized women into groups in order to enhance their access to agricultural land, technologies and tools. Promoted alternative energy technology to reduce women’s workload in firewood collection.

Fourteenth plan approach paper (2016-2019)

Provision of access to subsidized loans and credit for entrepreneurship development or starting business through self-employment; expansion of labour and time saving technology for women. Ensuring quality promotion and market access for products produced by women’s groups.

Source: National Planning Commission (NPC) from planning periods 1975-2016



• Subsequent to ICPD 1994, ICPD+10 and ICPD

Beyond 2014 (Programme of Action), Nepal

made gender-sensitive health policies and

programmes for sustainable development

(ICPD, 2013).

• The United Nations Security Council Resolutions

1325 and 1820 established legal standards to

ensure the meaningful participation of women

in the peace process.

• The SDGs were adopted on 25 September 2015

as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

Development. Nepal initiated the

implementation of the set targets for the

achievements of the SDGs (NPC, 2015a).

In accordance with the above commitments, Nepal’s

constitutions of 1990, 2007 and 2015 have all made

legal arrangements to implement international treaties.

Nepal’s constitution (Government of Nepal, 2015)

affirms to abide by CEDAW’s recommendations,

the Beijing Platform for Action and the SDGs. In the

case of agriculture, for the first time the constitution

upholds the rights of farmers to access land for

agricultural purposes, and to select and preserve

traditionally adopted endemic seeds and agricultural

species. The new constitution promotes state policies

for agricultural lands reforms and discourages

absentee land ownership, however, women’s

ownership of land is still constrained (UN Women,

2015). The absence of supporting legislation and the

prevalence of traditional practices restrict women’s

rights which are upheld in the new constitution.

Looking at the current scenario, the new constitution

requires strategies that would help its implementation

and complement the efforts to achieving the SDGs.

Furthermore, despite the gendered bias in regard to

the recognition of citizenship, the new constitution

underpins a progressive foundation for a gender-

equitable society (see Table 5).

©FAO



Table 5: Provisions of gender equality in the 2015 constitution

The transfer of citizenship to children from single mothers and the right to security as a single mother.

Acquire citizenship certificates with gender identifiable by the name of his/her mother or father.

The right to special opportunities in the spheres of education, health, employment and social security by dint of positive discrimination.

The right of women to participate in all state structures and bodies on the basis of the principle of proportional inclusion.

The right to equal wages.

Special provisions to be taken under law for the protection, empowerment or advancement of women and also sexual and gender minorities.

Equal rights of both spouses in property and family affairs.

Adopt a policy for economic valuation of the work and contribution of women in regard to child care and care for the family.

Adopt the policy of representation of 33 percent women in different government and political realms. This includes the Federal Parliament, National Assembly, Provincial Assembly, District Coordination Committee, Municipal Assembly, Village Assembly and Ward Committee.

Make it mandatory that either the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker of both the House of Representatives and the Provincial Assembly, and Chairperson or Vice Chairperson of the National Assembly are women at any given time.

Source: Government of Nepal, 2015 and UN Women, 2015

Nepal has put in place several legal frameworks to

lessen gender inequalities. Some key legal provisions

aimed at the promoting gender equality include:

• Establishment of state entities to oversee

gender issues such as The Ministry of Women

Children and Social Welfare (MoWCSW) in 1995,

the Women and Children Directorate in 1996,

and the National Women Commission (NWC)

in 2002;

• Enactment of Self-Governance Act in 1999 to

ensure women’s representation in local

governance;

• Nepal’s Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP) in

2003, aimed at giving equal attention to civil,

political, cultural, economic and social rights to

women in the country;

• Gender Equality Act 2006, and subsequent

amendment of 56 discriminatory laws

against women;

• Amendment of Civil Service Act 1993 in 2007

to promote gender and social inclusion;

• Reservation of 20 percent of places for women

in the Nepalese Army in 2011, and Nepalese

police and armed police in 2007;

• The Human Trafficking and Transportation

(Control) Act 2007;

• The National Women’s Commission Act 2007;

• The Election Act (2007) provided substantive

quota for women (33 percent) to be represented

in CA. As a result, in 2010, almost one-third of

the members of the CA were women, and a

record number of Dalits and other marginalized

groups were elected;



• The adoption of the Gender-Responsive

Budget (GRB) to ensure adequate allocation

of resources for gender equality and women’s

empowerment in 2007 and 2008;

• The Domestic Violence (Crime and Punishment)

Act 2009;

• National Action Plan on Women, Peace and

Security in 2011. Nepal became the first country

in Asia to ensure that women’s and girls’ rights

are protected in the Comprehensive Peace

Accord (UN Women et al., 2016b);

• Five-year National Strategy and Action Plan on

Gender Empowerment and Ending

Gender-Based Violence (2013-2017);

• Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Protection)

Act (2014);

• National Action Plan on Foreign

Employment 2015;

• Witchcraft-related Accusation (Crime and

Punishment) Act (2015);

• Amendment of some Nepal Acts relating to

Gender Equality and Ending Gender Violence,

which amended the 32 discriminatory acts

including the Domestic Violence (Crime and

Punishment Act) in 2015.

3.4 Institutional framework for gender equality and women’s empowerment

The implementation of gender-responsive policies and

programmes require gender-responsive institutional

structures and national mechanisms that ensure

not only interventions but also ascertain regular

monitoring of implementation of legal and policy

measures. The constitution of such machinery requires

adequate women’s representation, gender-responsive

regulations, and procedural guidelines, including

participatory monitoring. The Government of Nepal

has created a range of institutional mechanisms and

structures over the years to address gender and social

inclusion issues from the central (national) to the

district and VDC levels.

In recent years, the government, civil society

organizations, and various bilateral and multi-lateral

development partners have put great effort into

promoting gender equality – especially women’s

rights – and upholding the various international

commitments including the SDGs (NPC, 2015a).

These efforts were supported through the new

constitution of 2015 that guarantees women’s

representation in an unprecedented manner via various

government structures and at the leadership level.

The Local Body Election Act has made it mandatory to

have a woman either in the post of chair or vice-chair

of the village councils, municipalities and district

coordination committees. The Act states that half

of each four-member ward committee should be

women. At the national level, MoWCSW is the key

ministry for the promotion of gender equality and

women’s empowerment. Since the establishment

of this ministry in 1995, the Department of Women

Development (DWD), under the MoWCSW, has

extended its services to all 75 districts with the support

of Women and Children Officers (WCO) of the

MoWCSW staff, who are the key gender focal points

in the districts (SAHAVAGI, 2016; ADB, 2010; ADB,

2012; and UN Women, 2014a). Likewise, GESI Units

and a Coordination Committee have been formed

in the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP),

Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD), Ministry

of Education (MoE) and Ministry of Federal Affairs and

Local Development (MoFALD).

The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of

Ministers (OPMCM) has a Gender Unit for the

coordination, facilitation and monitoring of gender-

based violence campaigns, and for running hotline

services to address sexual and gender-based violence

in the post-earthquake context (NPC, 2015c).

Additionally, an inter-ministerial Gender-Responsive

Budget Committee (GRBC) was established by the

Ministry of Finance (MoF) with the mandate to design

a methodology to monitor sectoral budget allocations

and public expenditures from a gender perspective.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) has established

the Directorate of Women and Children Service

(DWCS) at Police Headquarters with dedicated service

centres for women and children in all districts of Nepal

to provide counselling and solve disputes of victims

of domestic violence and trafficking.

The National Planning Commission (NPC), which

is headed by the Prime Minister, has a Social

Development Division (SDD) responsible for addressing

women’s empowerment issues. The NWC was

established as a statutory independent constitutional

body in 2002 to monitor women’s rights including

progress on the obligations under CEDAW. Likewise,

the National Human Rights Commission has statutory



mechanisms to address all possible violations of

women’s rights. In January 2016, after the devastating

earthquake in 2015, the Government established

the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA), which

appointed a woman to the NRA Advisory Council.

Subsequently, the MoF requested all sectorial ministries

to follow the GRB principles in their reconstruction

plans, as in the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment

(PDNA) (UN Women et al., 2016b).

At the district level, the Gender Mainstreaming

Coordination Committee (GMCC), under the

WCO/MoWCSW and with representation from line

agencies, is tasked with monitoring and coordinating

district-level gender work. Similarly, the District

Development Committee, under the MoFALD, has a

social committee with a social development officer

responsible for children and gender-related tasks at the

district level as member-secretary, and representation

in GMCC. In addition, district-level NGOs, federations,

associations of women and excluded groups are

responsible for programme planning on gender and

inclusion-related issues, auditing all programmes and

coordinating gender equality and social

inclusion-related activities at the district level.

At the VDC/municipality level, although there is no

institutional mechanism with specific responsibility for

GESI, the village and ward citizens’ forums established

by the VDC Grant Operation Manual and GESI strategy

of MoFALD create spaces for all citizens, including

women, to discuss, negotiate, prioritize and coordinate

development efforts, especially the allocation of block

grants with 10 percent of total budget exclusively for

women, ensuring that they are both inclusive and

equitable. The related financial regulation stipulates

30 percent mandatory representation of women in

users’ committees.

Ministry of Agricultural Development (MoAD)

The highest level of the national machinery in Nepal

for the advancement of women and gender equality

in agriculture and rural development is the MoAD.

The recognition of the importance of establishing

a gender-balancing programme within the ministry

was initiated in 1993 with the establishment of the

Women’s Farmer Development Division (WFDD).

Ever since, the MoAD has been integrating women

into its training programmes. Following a review of

the impact made by WFDD and also with the aim of

institutionalizing women’s active participation in all

agricultural subsectors, the MoAD established the

Gender Equity and Environmental Division (GEED) in

2004. In 2012, the GEED was replaced by the GESI

Section to ensure the participation of disadvantaged

and marginal groups and support their livelihood

(ADB, 2012). The GESI Section acts as a focal point

for the management of GESI-related information and

documentation of databases from five regions, and

has been responsible for the implementation of the

GESI-responsive budget through various programmes

and projects. As well as vertical coordination within the

MoAD, the GESI Section coordinates horizontally with

other line ministries and development agencies.

However, the GESI Section has limited authority and

an inadequate mandate, further compounded by

limited human resources with only two staff members.

These are some of the challenges being faced by the

mechanism developed for GESI and geographical

inclusion. In 2014, the MoAD established the GRBC,

comprised of five members, which is chaired by

the Joint Secretary of Planning for the promotion

of gender equality (MoAD, 2017b). This committee

is supposed to harmonize relations with districts

and regional and central departments in order to

implement GESI policies, plans and programmes.

However, the GRBC is not functioning as expected

because of the resource constraints and lack of

gender auditing. Nevertheless, the GESI Focal Person

is optimistic about the effective implementation of

GESI strategy of the ADS if there is adequate support

in terms of human resources, logistics and authority.14

MoAD’s gender-responsive budget

In 2008, the MoAD was given a GRB to ensure that

adequate resources were allocated to execute

national priority projects successfully, particularly

those related to gender equality and women’s

empowerment. However, this GRB only tells how

much money is spent on gender concerns but is

unable to show precisely how much money has been

spent on reducing inequalities (SAHAVAGI, 2016).

Of the total national budget (NPR 1048.9 billion),

only 2.4 percent (equivalent to NPR 27 billion) was

allocated to MoAD in 2016/17 (MoF, 2016).

Figure 6 illustrates the gradual increase of MoAD

14 Based on interview with GESI section Chief Focal Person, Ms. Bidya Pandey on 14 May 2017.



total budget allocated to gender as illustrated by the

decreasing percentage of neutral budget over time.

It is encouraging to see that 100 percent of MoAD’s

budget was gender-responsive in 2016/2017.15

Nevertheless, more than three-quarters of the budget

is indirectly gender responsive. With slightly more

than 75 percent of the budget being indirectly

gender responsive, gender-responsive programmes are

limited to less than 50 percent of total programmes.

As a result, a significant amount of the budget is not

allocated for the benefit of women. Further, there are

no clear sub-indicators for putting score or weight

against each indicator of the GRB.16 The relevance of

indicators and scores for both the crop and livestock

sectors to address gender, social and geographical

issues has yet to be analysed.

The MoAD has made efforts in implementing various

programmes for women including indigenous and

smallholders, such as contract farming, cultivation in

leased land, group farming, off-season (vegetables

and crops) production, value-chain management,

export marketing through agricultural cooperatives,

and improved seed production. Various agriculture

development programmes in districts with women’s

participation are illustrated in Figure 7.

Women’s participation is more than 40 percent in all

district-level agriculture development programmes,

except in youth-targeted programmes (34.6 percent),

as shown in Figure 7. The MoAD has also implemented

a number of projects at the district level (Figure 8).

All nine projects show significant participation

of women except the Pilot Program for Climate

Resilience, which has only 13.4 percent of women’s

participation. The programmes and projects

implemented by the MoAD show encouraging results

in terms of women’s participation, however, women’s

involvement is limited to programme participation,

which may not induce a change in their livelihood.

This has been well noticed during the 2016 World Food

Day, where only 16.6 percent of the awarded farmers

were women (MoAD, 2016). This gives the impression

that women were not as competent as men when

it came to agriculture and livestock performance. It

also shows that the participation of women claimed

by the Government in various programmes was not

meaningful or effective enough. Therefore, the MoAD

should make a concerted effort to close gender gaps

by conducting assessments regarding the impact of

the programmes.

15 MoAD (2017b) highlighted five qualitative indicators for GRB namely, i) increased in capacity building of women, ii) participation of women in planning and implementation of programmes, iii) proportion of benefits shared to women, iv) support to income generation and employment to women and, v) time saving and reducing drudgery. Programmes scoring 50 points or more are classified as directly responsive to women. Those scoring between 20 and 50 points are classified as indirectly responsive while those scoring less than 20 points are classified as neutral.

16 As per USAID (2012), the score is allocated to four indicators: 1) participation and decision making (30); 2) capacity building (30); 3) support

to income generation and employment generation(30); and 4) time saving (10) in agriculture (crop and fisheries) while the score is different

for the livestock sector. However, the problem here is not having sub-indicators for each indicator to allocate the score properly.

Figure 6: Allocation of agriculture sector budget in response to gender in MoAD

2016/17

2015/16

2014/15

2013/14

2012/13

0 20 40 60 80 100

Direct % Indirect % Neutral % MoAD annual budget in billion NPR

Source: MoF, 2016; MoAD, 2017a

24.3 75.7 0 27.4

62.7 37.1 0.2 26.7

66.6 33 0.4 23.3

53.7 46 0.3 24.7

76.4 22.8 0.7 12.3

0 10 20 30



Figure 7: Share of men and women in agriculture development programmes at the district level (in percentage)

100

80

60

40

20

0

Pe

rce

nt

Source: MoAD, 2015 and MoAD, 2016

Male

Female51 51.665.4

52.3 55.9 58.1

49 48.434.6

47.7 44.1 41.9

Ove

rall

progra

mm

e

Agricultu

re

extensio

n

Youth

-tar

geted

progra

mm

e

Agricultu

re b

usiness

prom

otion

Crop d

evelo

pment

progra

mm

e

Fisherie

s deve

lopm

ent

progra

mm

e

Figure 8: Share of women in various agricultural projects (in percentage)

IWRMP

FCRP

NAFSP

RISMFP

PPCR

HVAP

PACT

KUBK

HIMALI

Source: MoAD, 2015 and MoAD, 2016

48.6

52.1

48

57.5

51.5

13.4

56.2

53.1

30.1

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Percent

IWRMP: Irrigation and Water Resources Management ProjectFCRP: Forest Cover Restoration Project NAFSP: Nepal Agriculture and Food Security ProjectRISMFP: Raising Incomes of Small and Medium Farmers ProjectPPCR: Pilot Program for Climate ResilienceHVAP: High Value Agriculture ProjectPACT: Project for Agriculture Commercialization and TradeKUBK: Kisankalagi Unnat Biu-Bijan KaryakaramHIMALI: High Mountain Agribusiness and Livelihood Improvement



©FAO



Ministry of Livestock Development (MoLD)

The MoLD was established as an independent ministry

from the MoAD in December 2015 to achieve food

and nutrition security through sustainable livestock

production for higher economic growth (MoLD, 2016).

One of the objectives of the MoLD is to encourage

women and young people’s self-employment in

the livestock and poultry sectors, and to create

employment opportunities through their involvement

in production, processing and marketing procedures

in order to support the national economy. The newly

formed ministry includes a GESI section under the

planning, monitoring and evaluation division.

The GESI focal person is responsible for programme

review, disaggregated GESI data, and also represents

the MoLD in inter-ministerial coordination committee

meetings. The MoLD suffers from similar challenges

as the MoAD, particularly at the policy level due to

inadequate human resources and gender-responsive

programmes, as well as at the implementation level.

In particular women’s involvement in agribusinesses

and technologies is still weak as reported by the

planning head of the MoLD.17

17 Based on interview with GESI section Chief Focal Person, Ms. Bidya Pandey on 14 May 2017.

©shutterstock/Mohd Razz Rozzfaisal

ASSESSMENT OF GENDERINEQUALITIES IN AGRICULTUREAND THE RURAL SECTOR

4©

FAO


In the subsistence crop and livestock integrated

farming system of Nepal, there exists socially defined

gender roles and responsibilities resulting in a

distinct division of labour in farm and non-farm

activities. The following sub-sections briefly examine

these persisting gender disparities in terms of access

to and control over resources, workload and wages

in agriculture.

According to the 2011 National Demographic

Health Survey (NDHS) more than three-quarters

(76.4 percent) of women (aged 15-49 years) who

are engaged in agricultural work are not paid, as

compared to 15.9 percent of women engaged in

non-agricultural work (MoHP, 2012). Respectively

10.4 and 7.3 percent of women employed in

agricultural work received in-kind only payment and

cash and in-kind payments in 2011. The difference

between agricultural and non-agricultural work is

highest for women in terms of cash only payment

(5.9 percent versus 80 percent). Of all women

employed in agricultural work in Nepal, more than

eight out of ten (82.8 percent) are employed by

family members, while only 14.6 and 2.6 percent

are employed by non-family members and

self-employed in agriculture, respectively.

Women engaged in seasonal work in agriculture

(47.4 percent) is also significantly higher than in other

sectors (8.6 percent) (MoHP, 2012).

4.1 Food security and nutrition

Without rapid progress to reduce and eliminate

hunger and malnutrition by 2030, the full range

of the SDGs cannot be achieved (FAO, 2015a).

Therefore, food security and hunger eradication are

the top priorities on the international agenda today

(NPC, 2015a). In Nepal food insecurity remains a

fundamental challenge. Nearly half the districts in

Nepal (42 out of 75) are classified as food insecure in

terms of food grains (MoAD, 2014a). The far-western

and mid-western rural regions struggle with chronic

food deficits, mainly due to poverty, high market

prices, low agricultural production, lack of basic

infrastructure, and climate change (USAID, 2015). In

regions facing these issues, gender gaps have been

recognized as a key concern given the vital role of

female smallholders in household and community

food and nutrition security. They play a crucial role

throughout their involvement in food systems, from

production on the family plot to food preparation

and distribution within households. Despite this,

women’s roles are generally undervalued and

constrained by their limited access to resources,

services and labour market opportunities. In terms

of nutrition, 18 percent of women in Nepal were

malnourished (body mass index18 below 18.5) and

35 percent were anaemic (low level of haemoglobin

in the blood) in 2011 (MoHP, 2012). The prevalence

of anaemia is higher for rural women than urban

women (36.2 percent as compared to 27.6 percent)

and highest in Terai regions (42 percent versus

26.9 percent in mountain and hill) (MoHP, 2012).

In recent years, great progress has been made in

meeting the targets of the MDGs. This is thanks to

the implementation of the Multi-sector Nutritional

Plan (2013-17) by the NPC and because the CEDAW

recommendations were followed (CEDAW, 2011).

However, in 2011, 40.5 percent of children under

five years old remained stunted, 28.8 percent were

underweight, 10.9 percent were wasted, and 46

percent were anaemic (CBS, 2011; MoHP, 2012).

There are considerable differences in the nutritional

status of children by sex ethnicity and ecological

zone. Stunting, for example, is slightly higher among

girls (43 percent) than boys (40.1 percent) and is

more pronounced in the mountains (56 percent)

compared with the hills (42.3 percent) and the Terai

regions (38.6 percent). Likewise, there are variations

in socio-economic levels. Prevalence of stunting is

highest among Dalits and socially excluded groups in

the hills and Terai (USAID 2015, and MoHP 2012).

Studies have shown that health and nutrition status

improved with the educational status of mothers.

It is also reported that geographic and socio-cultural

factors including gender have great influence on the

status of health and nutrition. This co-relation can

be explained by women’s multiple roles, which

influence the amount of time they have to take

care of themselves and young children. In addition,

gender biases and discrimination exist in

socio-cultural practices such as women eating last

or eating only leftovers, and being discouraged from

consuming dairy products during menstruation or

green vegetables while breast-feeding (ADB and FAO,

2013; FAO, 2010b; USAID, 2015; Chhetri, 2016).

18 The body mass index is expressed as the ratio of weight in kilograms to the square of height in meters. A body mass index below 18.5 indicates thinness or acute undernutition (MoHP, 2012).

ASSESSMENT OF GENDER INEQUALITIES IN AGRICULTURE AND THE RURAL SECTOR



Nepal’s new constitution has provisions that

guarantee non-discrimination in the application of

general laws on various grounds (NPC, 2015c), in line

with the CEDAW recommendations recommendation

to address harmful practices that discriminate against

women and girls (CEDAW, 2011). Yet, it does not

define gender discrimination to encompass both

direct and indirect discrimination that occurs in

the public and private spheres (UN Women, 2015).

Out-migration of men, along with negative impacts

of climate change on food production, have further

made rural, socially excluded and resource-poor

women more vulnerable to food and nutrition

insecurity. Therefore, an integrated approach

that includes pro-poor investment in sustainable

agriculture and rural development including

social security measures, maternal education and

awareness of optimal nutrition practices along with

men’s participation are recommended by many

development stakeholders. This would help to

improve food security and nutrition among women

and children, as well as help to improve

the overall socio-economic conditions of all

household members.

4.2 Crop production and post-harvest

Gender differentiation in division of labour, workload and wages

Past studies of Poudyal L.N. et al. (2009) and FAO

(2010b) have revealed that irrespective of regions,

women are involved more in crop production

and post-harvesting activities than men. While

men generally perform tasks that require heavy

physical labour such as ploughing, women are

more commonly involved in tasks such as weeding,

harvesting, threshing and milling (FAO, 2005).

However, of late, such patterns of the division of

labour are changing. In rural areas, due to migration

and long-term absence of men from agricultural

fields, women have now also taken up responsibilities

traditionally performed by men, such as ploughing.

Consequently, it has not only increased the workload

of women but it also caused poor agricultural

performance due to labour scarcity as well as lack of

access to credit for agriculture inputs. The heavy

burden of unpaid household responsibilities borne

by women often leads to ‘time poverty’ (FAO, 2015b).

There is concrete evidence that feminization of

agriculture has impacts in both the social and

economic spheres. In the social sphere, it is creating

social injustice to women due to family stress, family

breakdown and children growing up with single

mothers or other female relatives. Economically,

there is under-utilization of the agriculture sector

due to lack of available labour and input, which leads

to abandonment of productive land, and results

in food insecurity and nutrition scarcity as well as

chronic malnutrition of both mothers and children

(Tamang et al., 2014; Bhadra, 2007). Table 6 shows

that, employed women spent on average, 10 hours

more working each week than men when taking into

account non-economic work. In particular, women

in Nepal spent nearly six times more hours (23.3

hours versus 4.3 hours) than men in non-economic

(household) work. However, there is no significant

disparity between women living in rural and

urban areas.

Table 6: Average weekly hours spent on economic and non-economic work of employed persons aged 15 years and above, by sex, 2012-2013

Type of work

Nepal

Total

Urban Rural

Men Women Men Women Men Women

Economic work 41.2 32.1 36.4 45.5 31.1 40.3 32.3

Non-economic work 4.3 23.3 14.4 3.9 22.6 4.3 23.4

Both types of work 45.5 55.4 50.8 49.4 53.7 44.6 55.7

Source: Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), 2014b



The shortage of labourers in agricultural activities,

mostly in rural areas, has led to the abandonment of

rural agricultural land across the country (CBS, 2013

cited by Tamang et al., 2014) and women focusing

on high value but less labour-intensive crops such

as vegetable production. A study carried out by

Tamang et al. (2014) in Kavre and Lamjung reported

that 25-30 percent of agricultural lands have been

abandoned (left uncultivated) over the period

1994-2014 in these two districts due to women’s

time poverty and heavy work burdens.

Although there is no national-level information

available regarding men and women’s involvement

in specific crop production and processing activities,

a study carried out in Lubu village on the outskirts of

Kathmandu reveals that women do double the work

of men when it comes to producing major cereal

crops and vegetables, and post-harvesting

(Joshi 2000, cited from Baral, 2016). A similar pattern

was found in a study carried out in Nepal by FAO

(2010b). The study reported that women share more

than 50 percent of work, from planting to maturity

of crops including post-harvest activities. Studies

cited above showed that whilst women are mostly

responsible for food preservation and processing,

men are responsible for crop selling in the markets.

Women were mainly involved in cleaning of

storerooms and storing of agri-products in bags in

order to preserve food crops properly for longer

periods. This indicates that women are key

contributors to family food and economic security.

Irrespective of region, the working pattern of men

and women varies with seasons. In general, both men

and women farmers are busy during peak seasons,

especially during planting and harvesting times. In

peak seasons, labour is either exchanged or hired or

both when family labour is insufficient. However, in

exchanging labour, a day of a woman’s labour is not

considered equivalent to a day of a man’s labour.

This is almost double, i.e. two women for one man

day, as reported by female members of the Shatrujit

Management Agriculture Cooperative in Kavre.19

The difference is explained by work efficiency,

presuming women are less efficient than men in

crop production activities. As a consequence,

gender disparities are translated into wage disparities.

Past studies (FAO, 2010b; Baral, 2016) have revealed

the existence of gender wage discrimination

throughout the country, even for people carrying out

the same activity. Women undertaking agricultural

labour received wages 26 percent lower than men

in 2011 despite equal workload according to a study

from SAHAVAGI (2016), although provision of no

discrimination with regard to remuneration has been

made by the Government of Nepal (NPC, 2015c).

Access to and control over resources

National statistics collected in 2014 by CBS show

that the average area of land owned by women is

almost half (0.4 hectare) that of men (0.7 hectare)

(CBS, 2014c). Female-headed households accounted

for 19.7 percent of the total agriculture landholders

in 2011, a rise from 10.8 percent in 2001

(SAHAVAGI, 2016). Nevertheless the vast majority of

female-headed households did not own land

and houses in 2011 (Figure 9). Despite the new

constitution ensuring equal property rights without

gender discrimination, ownership rights over land

remain a major constraint for the majority of women

(UN Women, 2015). This limits their access to credit,

renting of tools, and technology and purchasing of

crucial inputs for crop production such as fertilizers,

and high-yielding, drought- and heat-tolerant seed

varieties, which ultimately results in low production

performance. The situation is more alarming in

rural areas due to the limited subsidy given by

the government to support small-scale farmers,

particularly women, poor and disadvantaged groups.

Similarly, there exists an undervaluation of the

importance of women’s skills, knowledge and labour

contributions in crop production resources such as

water management (IWMI, 2006). For example,

the Rural Village Water Resource Management

Project had fewer active women and disadvantaged

groups in water users committees. Consequently,

this limits women’s participation in decision-making

when it comes to high-value crops (cash crops)

and major cereal crops (rice and wheat), as these

products require more inputs including irrigation.

Weak women’s participation and leadership at the

institutional and policy levels limit women’s

decision-making and contribute to lower

gender-responsive resource allocation.

19 Based on the focus group discussion carried out by the researcher in March 2007 for this study.



4.3 Livestock production and management

As in crop production, Nepalese women play a major

role in the management and care of farm animals,

carrying out around 70 percent of the work related

to livestock rearing. But there exists a labour gender

division in livestock production and management.

According to an assessment carried out by

Poudyal L. et al. (2009), women are responsible for

70-90 percent of livestock-related work such as

forage collection, cleaning the gutters and sheds,

and feeding animals; whereas milking animals is

mainly performed by both women and men, and the

selling of milk to generate cash income is considered

to be the men’s domain (Table 7). It clearly shows

that women’s involvement is very high in non-cash

activities and men’s participation is high in direct

cash-generating activities. Studies have also reported

that women’s involvement in livestock management

was higher as compared to men’s, as the former

are mostly involved in tedious tasks such as forage

collection and grass cutting (Karki et al., 2014;

Baral, 2016).

Figure 9: Land and house owned by female-headed households (in percentage)

10.820

10

0

Pe

rce

nt

19.7

5.5

10.7

Land House

Source: CBS, 2011 and SAHAVAGI, 2016

2011

2001

Table 7: Distribution of roles and responsibilities in major livestock activities (in percentage)

Source: Poudyal L et al., 2009

* Note, 4 percent of milk selling is done by children

Activities Women Men Both women and men

Cleaning the gutters and sheds 80 5 15

Feeding animals 70 7 23

Forage collection 92 0 8

Milking animals 42 4 44

Selling milk* 19 46 31



Poudyal et al (2009) reported that women’s

participation was around 25 percent in the

production of larger animals such as cattle and

buffaloes, which are considered to be the most

important enterprises in the society, whereas their

participation was very high (up to 70 percent) in

the production of small ruminants like goats

(FAO, 2015b). The Community Livestock

Development Project (CLDP) reported that women

were marginalized due to access to credit and newer

technologies, which limited them to traditional

goat rearing instead of investing in value-added and

higher income-generation activities such as dairy

or meat processing, and improved dairy animal

farming and forage production (ADB, 2010; Poudyal

et al, 2009) Research carried out on gender and

livestock management by Gurung et al. (2005)

in three regions of Nepal reported that rich and

resourceful farmers raise large livestock species,

whereas poorer and disadvantage ethnic groups tend

to raise small species such as goats, pigs and poultry.

A similar trend was reported by the MoAD (2016)

from the Eastern Region districts livestock database

(Table 8).

Table 8 reveals that around 73 percent of women

participated in pig rearing programmes in Sunsari

district, whereas in the case of larger ruminants

such as cattle and buffalo, women’s participation is

significantly lower than men’s. Women’s involvement

in the livestock trade, investment and spending of

household income from livestock marketing is still

limited (Gurung et al., 2005). Despite the

overwhelming role of women in livestock production,

the agricultural plans do not address gender

constraints satisfactorily in this sub-sector

(Paudel et al, 2009). Nevertheless, in recent years,

efforts have been undertaken in engendering

livestock projects as well through GRBs

by the Government.

4.4 Aquaculture

In rural Nepal, aquaculture provides a source of

nutritious food and income for women who manage

their household but lack opportunities to improve

their livelihoods. Recognizing aquaculture as a means

of fighting malnutrition and poverty, both the public

and private sectors have been actively involved in

promoting small-scale aquaculture among women

through leasing water bodies collectively. With the

support of the Government, women’s contribution

to total fish production from aquaculture practices

was recorded at 60.7 percent in 2014/15. In addition,

women’s production through capture was recorded

at 32.6 percent, indicating significant support in

national economy.

Table 8: Participation of men and women in the livestock Pocket Package Programme in the Eastern region districts, 2013-2014

Source: MoAD, 2015

Pocket Package Programme District

Participation

Women’s participation in percentageTotal Men Women

Cattle Ilam 505 398 107 21.2

Cattle Morang 701 382 319 45.5

Buffalo Siraha 200 145 55 27.5

Buffalo Saptari 300 210 90 30.0

Pig Sunsari 500 136 364 72.8



The declining availability of natural uncultured native

fish species among traditional fishing communities

such as Tharu, Darai Bote and Gurung has negative

implications, not only for food and nutrition security,

but also for traditional fishing communities’ cultural

and social values (Pant et al., 2009). However,

aquaculture practice requires significant resources,

including land and access to information, water,

credit, fingerling transportation and skill

development. (Farquhar, et al., 2017; and Farquhar,

et al., 2018). This represents a major constraint for

Nepalese women due to the lack of ownership rights

over land, which limits access to credit for

production. An integrated agriculture-aquaculture

research project entitled Women in Aquaculture

in Nepal, implemented jointly by the Institute of

Agriculture and Animal Science, Rampur, Asian

Institute of Technology (AIT) and Rural Integrated

Development Society (RIDS) in two districts of Nepal

between 2000-2007, revealed that women

organizing themselves in cooperatives were able to

be involved directly as primary decision-makers

(nearly 20 percent) and indirectly, that is jointly with

men, (40 percent) in household decision-making that

contributed significantly to their empowerment

(Pant et al., 2009; Pant et al., 2013). This affirmed a

key role of cooperatives in empowering rural women

through the development of aquaculture enterprises

(FAO, 2013). Therefore, recommendations were made

for organizing women into groups and linking them

with microfinance institutions as necessary for

empowering women in aquaculture.

4.5 Forest and natural resource management

Relatively speaking, gender mainstreaming in the

forestry sector in Nepal can be considered as setting

a good example for the region. The Government has

created a complementary national legal framework

to protect women’s rights and promote gender

equality in the forestry sector. Ever since community

forestry emerged, there has been gradual progress

towards recognizing gender equity through laws,

policies and strategies. Although community

and leasehold forestry have come a long way in

improving gender equity in their management

systems, gender gaps are still present in the forestry

profession. The current composition of female staff

within the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation

(MoFSC) is as little as 4 percent, which is very low in

comparison to the government’s pledge of at least

a 33 percent quota. Despite the fact that the number

of female members in community forest users

groups (CFUGs) executive committees has gradually

increased to 31 percent, it has not yet reached the

government’s target of 50 percent (FAO, 2015c).

According to the database (FAO, 2015c), women

in CFUGs represent only about 5.5 percent of the

total CFUGs members (19 361). This shows the

existence of gender disparities at the local level as

well. Knowledge, skills and practices of both men and

women contribute to the conservation, management

and improvement of natural resources. However,

gender equality issues in utilization and management,

along with different priorities based on the gender

division of labour in natural resource management,

dishearteningly cut across in benefiting men and

women differently. This is because women have

limited awareness and capacity to claim their rights

and ensure that they are treated equitably

(WWF, 2013).

4.6 Agricultural technology and agribusiness

A wide range of technologies, such as machines

and tools, as well as improved plant varieties and

animal breeds, fertilizers, pest control measures, and

innovative management techniques are crucial for

maintaining and improving agricultural productivity

and reducing drudgery in farming. However, in most

cases, new technologies have been introduced taking

only men into account. Gender bias and patriarchal

attitudes in institutions often reproduce assumptions

that only men are farmers and that only men can

cope with new technology. As a consequence,

knowledge, technology and training related to

agriculture are generally less available to female

farmers (FAO, 2010a).

Although a number of women-friendly agricultural

machinery and technologies, such as small tractors

(two wheels), hand machines, mini-tillers, pedal or

electric millet threshers, coffee pulpers, and potato

grading machines were introduced to reduce the

drudgery of many women involved in farming; many

were not adopted (Kattel, 2016). Evidence reported

by Baral et al. (2016) shows that, despite subsidy

provisions from the Government for agricultural

machinery, the high costs associated with the

technology, and poor information and dissemination



strategies at the local level as well as the national

level caused problems in adoption.20 Moreover, in

many cases, the benefits of such technologies were

not backed by evidence-based research and tested

at farm level with women. All this negatively affects

agricultural production. Studies (FAO, 2010b; Tamang

et al., 2014; Kattel, 2016) show that in Nepal farms

managed by women produce less value per hectare

than those managed by men. This reflects gender

inequalities particularly in accessing, adopting and

using technologies. In general, female and male

farmers often have distinct sets of agricultural

knowledge, skills and criteria for choosing crop

varieties and performing activities such as selecting

seed, cultivating, harvesting and processing that

need to be taken into account. Studies reported that

gender-responsive research on drudgery-reducing

and time-saving technology, along with gender

friendly-extension services, are still inadequate

in Nepal. One of the major factors is inadequate

knowledge on gender analysis along with resource

limitations as reported by Dr. Y. N. Ghimire of the

National Agriculture Research Council,

Socio-Economic Division.

Various studies revealed that self-employment

in small-scale businesses or micro-enterprises

following a value-chain approach could be an

important strategy for income generation, especially

for improving women’s livelihoods and reducing rural

poverty (Kattel, 2016). In recent years, the

value-chain approach has progressively been

integrated into pro-poor development programmes

by a number of governmental institutions and

NGOs specifically with the aim of empowering

women through developing and managing their

own income-generating activities. However, the

major focus has been on technology and production

with minimal emphasis on linking production and

technology transfer with access to markets and basic

infrastructure.21 In addition, in rural areas,

micro-enterprises and cooperatives are spread

out and lack a common platform. There is still

the absence of any integrated strategy that

includes information, communication, education,

entrepreneurship development, and training services

and facilities (ADB, 2012). Women entrepreneurs

often face additional challenges compared to men,

such as less opportunity to access financial services,

and lack of confidence, bargaining power and

knowledge about market demand and supply due to

poor literacy and limited mobility. Women are often

discouraged from participating in micro-enterprises

and agricultural businesses and, as a result, the

entrepreneurial potential of women still remains

largely untapped.

Recently, efforts have been made by the government

and international development organizations to

increase women’s involvement in various agricultural

value-chain programmes. These endeavours include

the Farmer Field Schools offering training in, for

example, manure management, compost-making,

vegetable production and organic pest control,

and using public radio and mobile phones to

transmit information about current market prices.

In addition, the government has provisions of loans

up to NPR 500 000 per year through the Women

Entrepreneurship Development Fund (WEDF) with

a low interest rate (6 percent) (NIC, 2016) and also

offers support for skill training to encourage women

in their entrepreneurial development.

Nonetheless, women’s inadequate decision-making

power, limited mobility and heavy work burden limit

their time availability to go to agricultural centres

and markets. In such circumstances, access to

opportunities is also gendered as women cannot

transition from production to marketing, and they

remain limited to their role as producers, while men

are generally engaged in marketing. So far, most of

value-chain development efforts have focused on

economic aspects, overlooking the social dimension

and gender perspective (ICIMOD, 2009).

Though, there has been progress in promoting

women’s representation in groups through various

government plans and programmes in view of the

CEDAW recommendations, how meaningful women’s

representation is largely depends on the level of

influence of their position in the group. In this regard,

gender analysis to better understand the enabling

and constraining factors is necessary to promote

women in agribusinesses.

20 Reported by Shatrujit Management Agriculture Cooperative members in focus group discussions made in March 2017.21 Similar problems were reported by Shatrujit Management Agriculture Cooperative members.



4.7 Agriculture extension services

Agricultural extension as an engine of pro-poor

economic growth started in Nepal in 1952. However,

most of these extension delivery models were

top-down in nature and could not meet the needs of

farmers (Suvedi et al., 2012). After the promulgation

of the Local Self-Governance Act 1999, Nepal

devolved its agriculture extension services to the

district level through the Department of Agriculture

(DOA) and the Department of Livestock Services

(DoLS). The Nepal Agricultural Extension Strategy

(NAES), developed in 2007, emphasized efficient

and effective services to agricultural producers

as envisioned by the Agriculture Perspective Plan

(1995-2015) (FAO, 2010d). Instead of just meeting

targets and numbers, the current ADS seeks a

gender-responsive, result-oriented decentralized

extension education and research system, responsive

to farmers and agro-enterprises, through establishing

Community Agricultural Extension Service Centres

(CAESC) (MoAD, 2014a).

Despite this, there is inadequate supply of extension

services staff, with one staff expected to oversee an

average of 3 000 people and one center covering

an average of 1 500 households. Although the

Agricultural and Forestry University, including the

Tribhuvan University (TU) and Purbanchal University

(PU), offer tertiary-level courses and the Council for

Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT)

provides technician-level training on agriculture,

agricultral extension services as such are still weak.

In comparison to other major fields of study,

women’s enrolment in agricultural disciplines is

comparatively low (21.7 percent) (Figure 10),

resulting in fewer women in agriculture-related jobs.

For example, only about 11 percent of the staff in

public agricultural services are women

(MoAD, 2017a). Inadequate gender-sensitive

extension services, due to limited women extension

workers, hamper the effective delivery of agriculture

services to rural women farmers in Nepal.

According to the PDNA report of NPC, only

31 percent of female farmers received extension

services in comparison to 69 percent of male

farmers in 2015 (NPC, 2015b). The number of female

professionals in agriculture and natural resource

management is very low, both in the government and

private sector, which means that there are very few

professional women who can help ensure provision

of gender-responsive information and services to

rural female farmers (NPC, 2015b).

As most front-line extension workers are men,

extension messages and information, including

agriculture inputs and technology, do not reach out

to women living in remote areas. This leads to poor

performance in crop and livestock productivity.

In addition, extension services lag behind in assisting

farmers in marketing their farm products

(Suvedi et al., 2012).

Figure 10: Representation of women in different fields of study (in percentage)

Health and education

Humanities law and journalism

Others not stated

Business and administration

Science, maths, statistics and computers

Agriculture, forestry and fisheries

Engineering, manufacture and computers

Source: Source: CBS, 2012

37.9

33.5

49.8

21.7

12.3

27.7

39.6

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Percent



On the one hand, technologies are not gender-

friendly and, on the other hand, women are not often

viewed as farmers, and, therefore, they are rarely

approached and consulted by agricultural extension

service providers (UN Women, 2016), resulting in

low adoption of such technologies in rural areas.

Socio-cultural aspects also play an important role

in the adoption of technology. For example, in

the Terai region and among some specific groups

such as the Muslim community, women in general

do not meet outsiders, especially men. This is also

prevalent among women in rural areas. Under such

circumstances, inadequate numbers of female

extension workers could be one of the obstructing

factors when it comes to the transfer of knowledge

and technology (FAO, 2010a).

4.8 Rural finance

In most developing countries, there is a wide gap

in the supply of financial services to the rural poor.

In Nepal, only 20 percent of the population access

credit from formal banking and financial institutions

(CBS, 2011; Duwal, 2013). In this context, rural

financing services are of the utmost importance,

particularly for poor households trying to improve

their livelihood status. But the problem is that most

financial institutions are concentrated in urban

areas creating an acute access gap to banking and

financial services in more remote areas, mainly in

the far-western and mid-western regions of Nepal

(World Bank, 2014). In addition, the money borrowing

patterns between men and women vary sharply.

According to the World Bank, women are less likely

than men to have obtained a loan from a formal

financial institution, although women were slightly

more likely than men to have taken out a loan from

a private lender (19.6 percent of women versus

18.9 percent of men) (World Bank. 2014). As land

is the most important source of collateral, access

to formal credit for the rural poor is very limited.

According to ADB about 71.6 percent of smallholders

are dependent on informal sources of credit, such as

private money lenders and relatives, for loans (ADB,

2012). Such informal credit borrowing channels are

common in both rural and urban areas. According

to Nepal Living Standards Survey 2010/11, a large

portion of the population (69 percent and 49 percent

of rural and urban households respectively) borrows

credit from informal channels (CBS, 2011). Table 9

shows that more than half (52.6 percent) of rural

households with loans borrowed from relatives

followed by bank/financial institutes (17.2 percent)

and money lenders (16.5 percent). There are

problems associated with accessing credit via more

official channels. In hilly and mountainous rural areas,

the population is scattered and connected by poor

infrastructure. This creates additional challenges for

micro-finance institutions to serve in rural and

remote areas, resulting in higher transaction costs.

Meanwhile, borrowers from cooperatives or rural

(Grameen) banks have to spend a long time in regular

group meetings, which increase their opportunity

costs. Therefore, in order to minimize opportunity

costs, they prefer individual lending (Duwal, 2013).

In order to get credit, households often use land,

housing and property (gold, silver and other

valuables) as collateral. However, more recently,

a few formal institutions have come up with more

women-friendly schemes, such as hiring female

agents who operate branchless banking in remote

areas, in order to improve women’s access to

financial services. However the impact of such

initiatives has yet to be assessed.



Table 9: Distribution of rural and urban household loans borrowed by source (in percentage)

Source: CBS, 2011

Source of borrowing credit Urban Rural

Bank/financial institutions 35.9 17.2

Relatives 42.4 52.6

Money lenders 7.1 16.5

NGO/Relief agencies 3.9 4.2

Cooperatives 6.0 4.9

Others 4.7 4.6

According to NLSS 2010/11, around 82 percent of

rural households and 70 percent of urban households

do not use any collateral to borrow credit

(CBS, 2011). Loans without collaterals from the

informal sector have no fixed rates and are often

considered high risk, meaning high interest rates

are charged. Over 65 percent of rural and urban

households use their credit for personal purposes

(household consumption and other personal use)

while less than 25 percent of rural households use

their credit for farming and business purposes.

4.9 Agricultural cooperatives

Since 1992, when cooperatives were established in

Nepal, until the recently promulgated constitution,

cooperatives have been given greater importance

as one of the three pillars for national development.

The ADS has emphasized the promotion of farmers’

and women’s organizations and cooperatives as

being fundamental to achieving economies of scale

in technology dissemination, marketing, finance

and logistics (MoAD, 2014a). In addition to playing a

significant role in sustaining the country’s economic

growth, cooperatives provide opportunities for poor

farmers to boost their incomes through access to

finance. Cooperatives work as platforms for farmers

to acquire necessary knowledge and skills for

increasing the agricultural production and reducing

rural poverty. Of the total 33 599 cooperatives,

agriculture and agro-products-related cooperatives

account for 37 percent (12 440) (Department of

Cooperatives, 2016). Figure 11 shows that

high-value agro-products, such as tea, coffee,

herbs, etc. account for significantly low numbers

of cooperatives (1 percent or less) as compared to

agriculture (80 percent) and the dairy sector

(13 percent).

When the leadership of agriculture cooperatives is

analysed from a gender point of view, except for bee

keeping and tangerine cooperatives, the number of

female executive members is significantly lower

than that of male executive members (Figure 12).

The highest gap between men and women can be

observed in sugarcane cooperatives (70 percentage

points of difference) followed by dairy

(44.6 percentage points of difference). This can

be validated by a field observation of Shatrujit

Management Agriculture Cooperative in Kavre

district conducted in May 2017, where men were

found in a higher proportion (7 out of 11) in

leadership positions.



Figure 11: Agricultural cooperative institutions by agricultural products (in percentage)

Source: Department of Cooperatives, 2016

1% Coffee

1% Tea

2% Vegetables and fruits

2% Herbs

1% Bee keeping

13% Dairy

80% Agriculture

Figure 12: Male and female executive members of agricultural cooperative institutions, 2016 (in percentage)

Agriculture

Dairy

Vegetables and fruits

Tea

Coffee

Herbs

Bee keeping

Sugarcane

Tangerines

57.6


42.4

72.3

27.7

66.8

33.2

78.2

21.8

62.5

37.5

73.1

26.9

58.1

85

15

63.6

41.9

36.4

Female executive members (%) Male executive members (%)

0 20 40 60 80 100



Apart from providing saving opportunities and

credit to poor farmers, cooperatives also offer the

chance of employment to their members. However,

except in the case of tangerine cooperatives, in all

other types of agro-based cooperatives, women get

fewer employment opportunities. Figures from the

Department of Cooperatives show that of the total

7 783 employees, women received almost 20 percent

fewer opportunities of employment than men

(Table 10). Nevertheless, according to the 2015/16

Economic Survey, a total of 4 011 cooperatives were

fully run by women groups by the end of fiscal year

2014/15 (MoF, 2016), indicating that agriculture

cooperatives could be a vital tool for enhancing the

socio-economic as well as the political status of

women and disadvantaged groups in rural Nepal.

Table 10: Direct employment received by men and women in agricultural cooperatives


Cooperatives Men Women Total

Agriculture 3 045 2 599 5 644

Dairy 1 287 378 1 665

Vegetables and fruits 73 56 129

Tea 103 46 149

Coffee 43 34 77

Herbs 38 32 70

Bee keeping 24 23 47

Sugarcane 1 0 1

Tangerines 0 1 1

Total 4 614 3 169 7 783

4.10 Rural infrastructure

Geographic location is also a key determinant of

exclusion and disempowerment across all sectors.

The World Bank suggests that social and economic

empowerment of women can be achieved through

improving infrastructure which provides access to

drinking water, irrigation, energy, tourism and trade

(World Bank, 2009). Evidence compiled by various

international organizations suggest that rural roads

increase the productivity and income for men and

women farmers by improving communications,

reducing travel time and increasing access to

markets (ADB, 2012; World Bank, 2009). Improved

infrastructure also provides access to other services.

In the context of Nepal, rural households have little

or no access to primary health care, education,

safe drinking water and sanitation or other basic

services. For example, 38 percent of Janajatis in the

hill regions have no access to a health post within

an hour’s walk. The shortest life expectancy

(44 years) is found in the mountain district of



Mugu, compared to 74 years of life expectancy in

Kathmandu (ADB, 2012). This is in large part due to

lack of health facilities nearby. In rural areas,

households are scattered so that only 32 percent can

reach the nearest agriculture centre and 28 percent

can reach the nearest bank within a 30-minute walk

(ADB, 2012). Despite all efforts, 45.4 percent of rural

households did not have toilets and 14.5 percent did

not have access to safe drinking water in 2011 (CBS,

2014d) (Figure 13). Hill Dalits have the lowest access

to improved drinking water (70 percent) compared to

the national averages (82 percent) (ADB, 2012).

In line with the CEDAW concluding observation on

the access to safe energy for cooking fuel,22 the

Government of Nepal has implemented the National

Rural Renewable Energy Programme since 2012.

This was done with a view to reducing the

dependency on traditional energy by integrating

alternative energy for the socio-economic

improvement of rural communities. Evidence

shows that access to electricity, biogas and

improved cooking stoves saves rural women’s time

in collecting firewood, giving them more time to

become involved in other activities including income

generation and social activities (World Bank 2009).

However, the proportion of rural households using

solid fuel (cow dung, firewood and biomass) for

cooking23 did not decrease between 2001 (84.5

percent) and 2011 (86.6 percent) (CBS, 2014d).

From a gender perspective, improved access to

toilets, and coverage of electricity were observed in

female-headed households as compared to male-

headed households in rural areas in 2011, as shown

in Figure 13. Also, more female-headed households

in rural areas had connections to an electricity

supply when compared to male-headed households

in 2011. Significant achievement has been made in

the proportion of solar energy users, as coverage

reached up to 9.2 percent in rural households

in 2011 (CBS, 2014d).

Likewise, television coverage of rural households

almost doubled from 16.4 percent in 2001 to

31.3 percent in 2011, and about 61.2 percent of

rural households used mobile phones in 2011

(CBS, 2014d). It is worth mentioning that mobile

phones also offer a great opportunity for women

and men, especially in remote areas, to access

information relevant for their livelihood (CBS, 2011c).

22 CEDAW concluding observation 2011 paragraph 38 (c): “Ensure equal access of women to resources […] by facilitating women’s access to safe drinking water and fuel” (CEDAW, 2011).

23 The use of solid fuel produces indoor pollution and leads to health problems such as respiratory diseases of household members, in

particular women and children (CBS, 2014c).

Figure 13: Share of rural households’ access to basic facilities by sex of head of household, 2011 (in percentage)

Source: CBS, 2014d

100

80

60

40

20

0

Pe

rce

nt

Rural Rural male-headed Rural female-headed households households households

Safe drinking water source Toilet

54.661.2

85.5 86.6

52.3

59.7

85.8 87.4

65.6 65.6

84.6 84

Electricity Solid fuel for cooking



Though inadequate rural infrastructure affects all,

there is a wide gap in the way in which it affects

women and men’s access to health care, nutrition,

education and participation in decision-making.

Dalit families living in rural areas are the most

disadvantaged and many are unable to send their

children to school because of the geographical

location or financial constraints. In addition,

they suffer disproportionally from the effects of

malnutrition, infant mortality and child marriage

(Navsarjan Trust, FEDO and the International Dalit

Solidarity Network, 2013). Overall, women and

remote communities in rural areas are the most

affected by the lack of essential infrastructure

and facilities. It has hampered development and

employment opportunities and, therefore, efforts

need to be made for rural infrastructure development

with the aim of extricating rural women and

marginalized groups from drudgery and providing

more opportunities for income generation.

©FAO



4.11 Climate change and disaster risk management

Climate change is already having tremendous social,

economic and environmental consequences in

Nepal. Its effects are being felt in the form of floods,

droughts and devastation to the landscape among

others. Climate change impacts men and women

differently. Women are more adversely affected by

climate change and disasters because it magnifies

pre-existing gender inequalities. This was shown

when earthquakes hit Nepal in April and May 2015.

According to the PDNA report of NPC, of the total

498 852 houses that were damaged, about 26

percent were female-headed, and 41 percent

belonged to Dalits and indigenous communities

(NPC, 2015b; SAHAVAGI, 2016). Women and girls

sustained higher levels of deaths (55 percent) in

comparison to men and boys (45 percent). In rural

areas, many energy efficient and alternative energy

installations (improved cooking stoves, biogas) were

damaged and the government water supply system

was disrupted. This exacerbated women’s and girls’

workloads, as they had to collect water from a

farther distance (NPC, 2015b) and gather firewood

from forests. This extra burden limits their ability

to challenge the status quo, further entrenching

their roles and responsibilities. The disaster exposed

pre-earthquake inequalities prevalent in the society

based on gender, age, caste, ethnicity and marital

status with additional risk (NPC, 2015c). For example,

in the Sindhulpalchowk district, it was reported that

the destruction of toilet compounds had not only a

serious impact on personal and menstrual hygiene

of women and adolescent girls but also heightened

the risk of sexual and gender-based violence against

them. Gender inequality, manifested in limited access

to resources and information, and exclusion from

the decision-making process, limits women’s

capacity to cope with the changing environment

(Mainlay et al., 2012; WWF, 2013). In Nepal, where

women rely more on natural resources and

agriculture, women and girls are among the most

affected by climate change (UN Women, 2014b).

The common effects of global climate change

experienced by Nepal in recent years include

uneven distribution of monsoonal rainfall, and

increasing incidences of flash floods and droughts.

Consequently, the adaptive capacity of

semi-subsistence crop-livestock-based rural

livelihoods in the country is believed to be waning.

An assessment carried out on the 2011 Climate

Change Policy, National Adaptation Programme of

Action and Local Adaptation Plan for Action by the

International Institute for Economic Development

in 2012 (Mainlay et al., 2012) revealed that, in spite

of an understanding of the relationship between

gender, poverty and vulnerability in relation to

climate change, there has been insufficient focus

on the incorporation of gender analyses into the

development and implementation of climate change

laws and legislation.


For decades Nepalese women have been confronting

poverty, socio-economic discrimination and

disadvantages in society. Unpaid family labour and care

work constrain women considerably when it comes to

taking advantage of income-generating activities.

Employment inequalities, including the gendered

division of labour, rural women’s triple-work burden

and gender wage gap, represent additional obstacles

for rural women’s social and economic advancement.

This can be illustrated by women’s higher involvement

in non-cash productive activities and men’s higher

participation in direct cash-generating activities.

Contrary to legal frameworks, gender-based wage

discrimination is still prevalent, as men receive higher

wages than women for the same types of work. There

is an increasing dominance of women in agriculture

due increasing male out-migration, especially in rural

areas. This forces women to take on increased

workloads at home and in agriculture, and limits them

from participating in alternative income-generating

activities. Existing disparities in access to and control

over resources is also affecting women negatively,

as they lack unhindered access to land, credit,

and the ability to purchase crucial inputs for

agricultural production. In addition, although the

government has subsidized credit on agricultural

technologies/instruments in order to reduce women’s

workload, the high costs associated with technology,

and limited knowledge and information about their

application have caused many constraints in adoption.

Despite the Government’s provisions, gender equality

is often limited to laws and policies. Though there

is a quota provision of 33 percent for women in

institutions and decision-making processes, women’s

representation has remained low, revealing an acute

gender imbalance and under-representation in

agriculture. Even given the strategic importance of the

GESI component, gender equality has received little

attention by the concerned institutions. In the same

way, attention has yet to be paid to the incorporation

of a gender analysis component into the policy and

laws pertaining to climate change.

5.1 Major findings

The major findings of the CGA on the magnitude and

growth of the problem, and the level of national and

international commitment are outlined below:

1. Gaps in policy, legislation and implementation:

• Although the new constitution guarantees the

right to land access for agricultural purpose

as a farmer’s fundamental right, women’s

absolute ownership over land is still constrained,

which hinders them from using land as

collateral to acquire credit for agriculture or

business purposes;

• Gender equality is often limited to laws and

policies, and is not translated into reality for

women. The new constitution is still unclear

regarding the absolute recognition of women’s

ability to pass citizenship on to their children;

• The GESI has been given little attention by the

concerned line institutions, as it is looked after

by only a few people in the related ministries

and divisions, suggesting unavailability of

proper and sufficient human resources and

discharging authorities;

• Despite the significant contribution of

agriculture to the national GDP, the allocation

of the national budget to this sector is

comparatively lower than to the health and

education sectors. Moreover, allocation of only

one-quarter of the national agricultural budget

is specifically assigned for gender equality

issues. This indicates gaps at the policy and

implementation levels on gender equity issues;

• Indicators developed for GRB are without any

guidelines or basis to score/weightage against

the indicators. As a result the relevance of

indicators is questionable and needs to be

reviewed, particularly in relation to GESI and

the geographical context;

• The government’s policy is limited to meeting

targets of women’s and excluded groups’

participation in various programmes and

projects rather than addressing gender

inequality for women’s livelihood and

empowerment at the policy and strategic level;

CONCLUSION


CONCLUSION

• Although the government has subsidized credit

on agricultural machinery to make it accessible

to women and reduce their workload, the

high costs associated with the use of new

technologies combined with a poor

information and dissemination strategy at

national and local levels cause severe

limitations in implementation;

• In spite of the relationship between gender

inequalities, poverty, vulnerability and climate

change, there has been little focus on the

incorporation of a gender analysis

component into the policy and laws pertaining

to climate change.

2. Non-recognition of women’s contribution to the

agricultural sector (women’s invisibility):

• Despite women’s significant contribution

to agriculture, rural women have not been

recognized as agricultural producers with

valuable skills, knowledge and contributions

to the sector;

• Over three-quarters of women are engaged

in agriculture, but their actual share of

contribution to the sector, as part of the labour

force, paid or unpaid, has not been adequately

recognized nor quantified in terms of the

economic contribution to rural development

at large.

3. Inequalities in employment, including in division of

labour, workload and wages:

• Women’s involvement is very high in non-cash

related production activities, whereas men’s

participation is very high in direct

cash-generating activities such as crop

production and livestock sales into the market;

• Both cash and in-kind wage discrimination

persist. Men receive higher wages than women

in agriculture as well as in non-agriculture

sectors. Women agricultural workers receive

wages that are about 25 percent lower than

their male counterparts;

• In recent years, women have tended to shoulder

the more tedious workloads, both at home and

in agriculture mainly due to male out-migration

causing fewer opportunities for on- and

off-farm income generation;

• In comparison to other fields of study, the

enrolment of women students into studies of

agriculture, forestry and related sectors

is comparatively low (21.7 percent), which may

explain fewer women in agriculture

(11 percent) and forestry (4 percent)

higher-level professions;

• Women remain limited as producers due to

the lack of access to finance, market facilities

and limited bargaining power associated

with poor literacy and limited mobility. This

is compounded by the burdens of domestic,

care and farm work, meaning women have

been unable to transit into more profitable

occupations and entrepreneurship;

• Value-chain development efforts mostly focus

on economic aspects and have overlooked

social and gender dimensions.

4. Disparities in access to and control over resources:

• Women have limited intra-household

decision-making power, particularly regarding

livestock trade, agricultural investments and

household income expenditure;

• Women have virtually no control over

income earned from cereal and cash crop

production. Similarly, women’s decision-making

participation in value chains is insignificant;

• Lack of unhindered access to land limits women

in accessing credit and purchase of crucial

inputs for agriculture production.

5. Existence of cultural gender bias:

• Women tend to often participate in training for

activities such as group formation, and livestock

distribution. Whereas, animal breeding and

improved forage production are considered to

be jobs for men;

• Women are discouraged from consuming dairy

products during their menstruation period and

are prohibited from eating green vegetables

while breast-feeding, which often leads to

malnutrition and poor health status for women

and infants;

• Prevailing socio-cultural practices in sharing

food within society and households, such as

women eating last or eating left overs,

cause poor health and affect the nutrition

status of women;


CONCLUSION

• About 18 percent of women have a low body

mass index and 35 percent are anaemic, figures

that are even higher in the case of rural women.

As a result, chronic malnutrition among

women and girls continues to be a

long-standing challenge.

6. Gender inequalities in decision-making/

leadership positions:

• Women in leadership positions, whether it is in

farmers’ organizations cooperatives, networks

or in local governance, remain low due to their

limited access to knowledge and information

compounded with patriarchal narrative

prevalent in institutions;

• Women occupy only 4 percent of positions

within planning and decision-making domain,

reflecting an acute gender imbalance and

under-representation in forestry.

7. Poor agriculture education, research, technology

and extension services:

• Poor agriculture education leads to limited

applied learning skills, particularly regarding

aspects of social and gender development,

which has caused poor knowledge among

agriculture professionals on gender;

• As there is limited evidence-based

gender-responsive research in the agricultural

sector, few new technologies are being

developed to meet women’s needs, meaning

they are forced to continue with

time-consuming methods of work

and production.

• Because most of the front-line extension

workers are men, 69 percent of male farmers

receive extension services compared with

only 31 percent of female farmers. This limited

presence of women professionals in agriculture

means they miss out not only on extension

services but also the chance to gain new

knowledge about agriculture inputs, market

and technology.

8. Disparities in access to basic services for the rural

poor and women:

• In line with the CEDAW recommendations and

the MDGs, Nepal has made significant progress

in rural infrastructure development as compared

to the previous decade. However, rural people

in general and disadvantaged groups

(Dalits and Janjatis) in remote hills and

mountainous regions in particular are still far

behind in terms of access to safe drinking water,

sanitation, health and education facilities. Eighty

percent of rural women remain dependent

on traditional sources of energy (firewood,

cow dung and biomass) for cooking, which

are considered unsafe as they contribute to

household air pollution.

9. Access to finance:

• Most financial institutions are concentrated in

urban areas creating an acute access gap to

banking and financial services for people living

in remote areas, especially rural women due to

their limited mobility;

• A majority of rural households (69 percent)

access credit from informal sources. Women,

due to collateral constraints, are less likely

than men to obtain a loan from formal

financial institutions.

10. Vulnerability to climate change:

• Women have fewer productive resources than

men (land, capital, credit, water, technology,

etc.) and most often bear the burden of

securing shelter, food, water and fuel, which

increases their vulnerability and constrains

their capacity to cope with an increasingly

stressed environment;

• Drying up of water sources, disruptions in the

supply of water, damage to energy supplying

technology and stations, and destruction of

toilet facilities caused by natural disasters, not

only increased the time spent collecting water,

firewood and fodder, but also heightened the

risk of sexual and gender-related violence.


CONCLUSION

5.2 Recommendations

5.2.1 Recommendations for the Government of Nepal

Based on the findings of this Assessment, below are

listed recommendations for the enhancement of

gender equality at the macro, meso and micro levels24

for the Government of Nepal.

Macro-level recommendations

• Revise existing sectorial and thematic policies

through GESI analysis;

• Stimulate the creation of new policies and the

revision of existing ones, and create strategies

and plans to uphold equal rights of women

and men to ownership of and control over

land as well as other productive resources

based on up-to-date baselines and

corresponding indicators;

• Implement a comprehensive monitoring

framework on gender equality and rural

women’s empowerment in agriculture that

will cover all its key economic, social and

political aspects;

• Promote policy research and analysis on gender

equality and rural women’s empowerment in

the agricultural sector to inform policies and

strategic planning;

• Ensure active participation of rural women as

well as women-led civil society organizations

and cooperatives at all levels, including in

the formulation of agriculture and rural

development-related policies, strategies

and plans.

Meso-level recommendations

• Ensure that a government agency fully takes

charge over gender equality and women’s

empowerment issues, including coordination

of those issues across the governmental system

vertically and horizontally. Establish a structure

of Gender Focal Points in all agriculture-line

ministries as well as all other relevant ministries

and institutions;

• Provide for an adequate representation

of women from diverse backgrounds at

the decision-making level by supporting

programmes that aim to integrate women

in executive positions in accordance with

obligatory national provisions;

• Ensure sound policy implementation with

adequate, gender-responsive budgetary

allocations. This should be especially so within

the MoAD and ADS frame of operations so to

reach the benchmark of at least 65 percent

of its annual budget to support the

implementation of the GESI-responsive policy,

plans and programmes;

• Support implementing the GESI strategy of

the ADS by strengthening the GESI operational

section with proper authority, human capital

and adequate financial resources. Establish a

structure of Gender Focal Points at the district

level with GESI responsibilities in its terms

of reference;

• Strengthen monitoring and evaluation of policy

implementation, including through a regular

tracking of expenses on gender-responsive

budgeting and audit them in order to

understand the empowerment and changes

in women’s status. Periodically review the

process, criteria and weightage of indicators of

gender-responsive budgets to make them more

effective and relevant from a gender, social and

geographical perspective;

• Systematically assess the changes in women’s

livelihoods introduced by agriculture

programmes and projects by conducting

GESI perspective analyses, documenting

good practices and disseminating them for

wider application;

• Incorporate GESI sensitization components into

annual agriculture and livestock programmes

to help with staff training, and enforce

performance-based rewards, recognition and

promotion for their GESI-friendly services

aimed at increasing the capacities of extension

staff members;

24 Macro-level refers to the overall national policy environment, meso-level refers to the institutional context in the country and micro-level relates to community and household, which is the realm of the primary beneficiaries.


CONCLUSION

• In coordination with the Institute of Agriculture

and Forestry and CTEVT, stimulate the update of

agriculture and natural resource management

education and training curricula with current

and emerging gender and social issues;

• Encourage rural finance institutions, such as

micro-finance and development banks, to

develop special promotional packages that

include group collateral, business literacy,

tablet banking, insurance schemes, and

assurance of markets for agriculture products

with low premiums against loans for a wider

practice in remote areas.

Micro-level recommendations

• Strengthen rural women’s political, social

and economic visibility and importance by

identifying rural women leaders and champions

in different agriculture sub-sectors across the

country and ensure their integration into the

vertical decision-making processes up to the

policy and legislative level;

• Bolster the importance of women’s groups and

networks at the local level, including through

initiatives such as Farmer Field Schools, and

provision of leadership and advocacy training;

• Promote decent work, and full and productive

employment of rural women, particularly

those living in remote areas and from different

ethnic backgrounds, including in agricultural

value chains;

• Increase rural women’s employability and

competitiveness through technical and

vocational education and training, on-job

training, access to markets and seed funds,

as well as the adoption of new technologies

combined with support systems such as quality

child care and maternity leave;

• Provide opportunities to poor landless women

and marginal populations for group farming by

leasing public land;

• Allocate a higher budget for food and nutrition

programmes, particularly in rural and remote

areas where the incidence of malnutrition

among children and women is high;

• Coordinate with line ministries of cooperatives

and cottage industries to support rural women

and marginal farmers’ access to easy loans

without collateral for agriculture production

and agribusiness;

• Develop schemes with the provision of

government matching grant support to utilize

the remittance money in agribusiness,

agro-enterprise and agro-tourism to generate

more employment for rural women and men;

• Equip CAESCs by establishing an information

desk and FM radio to enable access to

information related to various legal and

normative provisions such as tax rebates,

subsidies, entrepreneurship skills and training

along with access to loans to support women

and poor and marginal farmers.

5.2.2 Recommendations for FAO

Based on the findings of this Assessment, listed below

are recommendations for FAO in its effort to support

the Government of Nepal for the enhancement of

gender equality at all levels.

Macro-level recommendations

• Lobby with the Government (MoF and MoAD)

for an increase of the gender-earmarked

annual budget allocation to the MoAD direct

responsive category;

• Coordinate with United Nations agencies,

development partners and civil society

organizations to jointly advocate with

concerned ministries, constitutional authorities,

and political parties for the enforcement of

government policies on women’s land rights

and pertinent legal reforms;

• Develop and implement livelihood strategies

and create protection measures through a

community-led, bottom-up approach.

Meso-level recommendations

• Strengthen the capacity of the Central Bureau

of Statistics for designing agriculture and rural

development-related surveys and censuses

from a gender, social and geographical

inclusion perspective to bridge the data gap

and collect missing information relevant for

gender equality in agriculture, including on

unpaid and care work;

• Coordinate with the Central Bureau of Statistics

for updating the disaggregation by age and sex

of the national database on remittance flows

along with the use of remittances by sector;


CONCLUSION

• Advocate for the introduction of rural women’s

easier access to hired labour and time-saving

technologies along with easier access to

subsidies and grants. Provide information and

training to build the capacity of rural women to

adopt to new technologies;

• Support the government in leasing abandoned

private and public land as an alternative option

for poor women and marginal groups to

increase their livelihoods;

• Build up capacity and sensitize the government,

particularly agriculture line ministries, on gender

issues and integration of gender-responsiveness

in their respective areas of work;

• Develop partnerships with the National

Agriculture Research Council and Agriculture

and Forestry University to help promote

evidence-based gender-responsive

agriculture research;

• Advocate with development partners, the

government and the private sector for

investment in rural infrastructure through

basket funding mechanisms in order to avoid

duplication and poor quality work. The funding

mechanisms should be accompanied by the

participation of local stakeholders with effective

awareness-raising tools disseminated in

local languages.

Micro-level recommendations

• Map links between agriculture and other sectors

such as tourism and cottage industry, which

have potential to generate gainful employment

opportunities for rural women;

• Support development partners creating a basket

fund that will provide scholarships, training,

internships, tutorial classes and research grants

for rural women and girls to prepare a critical

mass of competent women professionals in the

agricultural sector and rural economy;

• Strengthen civil society organizations and

the media to raise awareness of gender

discriminatory practices in the agricultural

sector and in the rural economy;

• Assist developing and applying an integrated

social empowerment plan for food and

nutrition security in rural areas, comprising of

elements such as maternal education and

awareness-raising on optimal

nutrition practices;

• Coordinate with WFP to integrate “cash for

aquaculture” in FAO’s programmes for the

improvement of nutrition, livelihoods and

health in traditional fishing communities,

especially those of children and mothers;

• Identify and promote women farmers who

are involved in agri-value chains for enterprise

development by linking them with rural finance

organizations and cooperatives;

• Identify, promote and provide guidance on

climate-smart agriculture technologies to

agricultural producers, especially poor and

marginal rural women.


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ANNEXES

Annex 1: Development partners and international and civil society organizations working to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in agriculture and the rural sector

I. Development partners and international organizations

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Nepal was a founding member of ADB in 1966.

Over the years, ADB has provided assistance in

several sectors, including agriculture and natural

resources, transport, information and communication

technology, energy, water and sanitation, urban

development, education, finance, and governance.

ADB has consistently promoted gender equality

and social inclusion in development, and is putting

more effort into building institutional capacity at all

levels, including local governments, climate change

mitigation measures and environmental safeguards.

Under the Country Partnership Strategy for

2013–2017, ADB continued to help the Government

of Nepal deliver on its national and international

commitments to GESI with the objective to increase

focus on promoting women and excluded groups

to upgrade them from subsistence agriculture. This

includes increased access of women and excluded

groups to irrigation facilities; increased participation

and representation of women and poor and excluded

groups in users committees; and enhanced GESI

capacity in respective sector agencies (ADB, 2012).

Australian Aid, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)

Australia has a long history of supporting Nepal’s

human and economic development, including

through micro-enterprise programmes to help lift

people, especially women, out of poverty.

Micro-enterprise development has been a key

initiative of Australia’s aid programme to Nepal since

1998. The programme trains poor and the ultra-poor

people to become entrepreneurs and assists them

in establishing and developing their own businesses.

The programme also provides business development

services and access to markets, finance and

technologies. In 2014-2015, the Micro-Enterprise

Development Programme enabled 27 464

beneficiaries, 62 percent of whom were poor

women, to increase their income. Since 1998, the

programme has created more than 70 800

micro-entrepreneurs, and through the micro-

enterprises created more than 86 000 jobs.

CARE Nepal

CARE has been working in Nepal since 1978. Its initial

focus was on addressing the basic needs of poor

and vulnerable communities through infrastructure

development, agriculture extension activities and

natural resource management. This focus changed

in the 1990s with the introduction of a more

diversified portfolio and a community-based ‘human

infrastructure development’ approach. Since 2000,

CARE Nepal has been working in partnership with

local NGOs, networks, federations and community

groups to address the underlying causes of poverty,

conflict and vulnerability through promotion of

gender and social inclusion, a rights-based approach

and social mobilization. In 2013, CARE Nepal

implemented 19 community development projects

in 48 districts in partnership with over 50 NGOs and

hundreds of community groups. CARE has identified

three core themes for its current programmes:

empowering women; securing livelihoods and

effectively managing natural resources; and

addressing equity and social justice.

Department For International Development (DFID)

DFID works closely with the Government of Nepal

to provide finance and technical expertise to reduce

poverty, provide services to the poor, and encourage

economic development. DFID has a strong theory of

change that underpins its work on gender equality

and social inclusion. This is used in the development,

implementation, monitoring and evaluation of DFID

programmes. The DFID Nepal Operational Plan

committed up to GBP 413 million in aid to Nepal

during 2011–2016, with specific targets for girls and

women, including a goal to improve the livelihoods

of 313 500 women through forestry programmes. In

Nepal, DFID’s interventions seek to increase gender

sensitivity and effectiveness in disaster risk reduction


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(DRR) programming through the full and balanced

participation of women, men, girls and boys. DFID

ensures at least 50 percent of employment in

forest-based enterprise goes to women; and

provides specific support to at least 25 000

women-headed households (which are particularly

vulnerable to climate change impacts).

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

GIZ has been active in Nepal since 1975. The

priority areas of Nepalese-German cooperation

are sustainable economic development and trade;

renewable energies and energy efficiency; and

health. Promoting gender equality has been a

fundamental principle of German development

policy for many years. GIZ offers support to carry

out gender-sensitive studies and analyses, and

to enhance the partner capacity to monitor and

evaluate gender-differentiated effects of rural

development policies, programmes or projects.

GIZ’s services span a wide range of activity areas,

from economic development and employment

promotion, through governance and democracy,

health and basic education to environmental

protection, resource conservation, agriculture,

fishing and nutrition. Government advisory services

are a high priority area of GIZ’s work. GIZ works

nationwide, however, focus has been given to Far

and Mid-Western Development Regions of Nepal.

European Union

The European Union (EU) established political and

economic relations with Nepal in 1973. The EU

is committed to supporting Nepal in its pursuit

of democracy and development. Currently, the

EU’s cooperation with Nepal supports more than

90 projects across the country. Education, rural

development, democratic governance and

post-earthquake reconstruction are the main fields

of engagement in which EU will invest EUR

360 million during the period from 2014 to 2020.

This will support Nepal’s vision to transform into

a more prosperous, democratic country with better

opportunities for all.

HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation

HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation’s development

goal in Nepal is to ensure all women and men,

especially those who are economically poor and

socially marginalized, have dignified lives. HELVETAS

Swiss Intercooperation’s operation is sensitive

and conscious in its effort to promote and ensure

gender equality and social inclusion. It monitors

programmes, investments and benefit flows assessed

by the socio-economic and cultural cohort. One

of the core thematic areas of HELVETAS is food

security and nutrition. In Nepal, HELVETAS Swiss

Intercooperation implements initiatives to increase

agricultural productivity, facilitating access to land,

inputs, knowledge, technology, financial services

and markets in the hills and the Terai. It promotes

climate-smart agricultural practices based on locally

available resources for sustainable production of

cereals, legumes, vegetables and high-value cash

crops with the support of pluralistic agricultural

extension services. The reduction and redistribution

of unpaid care work of women farmers to engage

more in agricultural initiatives will further contribute

to the success of HELVETAS’ programme on food

security and nutrition.

International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)

ICIMOD is a regional knowledge development and

learning centre working in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan

region in the area of sustainable mountain

development. ICIMOD works with and through its

partners in its eight regional member countries:

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India,

Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. The organization’s 25

years of experience has revealed that globalization,

climate change and human-led factors, including

unsustainable tourism, are having an increasing

influence on the stability of the fragile Hindu Kush-

Himalayan mountain ecosystems, which provide vital

livelihood resources to mountain people. ICIMOD

strengthens networking among regional and global

centres of excellence as a regional hub. Overall,

ICIMOD is working to develop an economically and

environmentally sound mountain ecosystem to

improve the living standards of mountain

populations, and to sustain vital ecosystem services

for populations living downstream now and in the

future. ICIMOD focuses on four thematic areas:

livelihoods, ecosystem services, water and air, and

geospatial solutions, while also integrating cross-

cutting topics such as gender, governance, poverty,

economic analysis and private-sector engagement.


ANNEXES

International Development Enterprises (IDE Nepal)

IDE has worked in Nepal since 1992. From irrigation

and good-quality seeds to rural collection centres

where farmers can sell their produce, IDE provides

simple innovations that help rural communities get

out of poverty and adapt to climate change.

By focusing on women as customers and

entrepreneurs, IDE strengthens their participation

in rural value chains and increases their access to

technology, know-how, finance and markets.

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

Nepal became a member of IFAD in 1978 and was

among the first countries to benefit from the fund.

The main strategic thrusts of the IFAD financed

projects in Nepal are poverty alleviation and

improvement of household food and income security

of the rural poor, especially rural women,

the landless, indigenous groups and small and

marginal farmers from the disadvantaged areas of the

country. Since 1978, IFAD has provided a total of USD

115 million in loans for 12 projects and has provided

technical assistance. IFAD’s strategy in Nepal is based

on its Country Strategic Opportunities Programme

for 2013-2018, which supports the development

policies and programmes of the Government of

Nepal and other partners, especially in relation to

peace-building, reconciliation, reconstruction and

economic recovery. IFAD’s investments reinforce

these efforts by addressing the issues of poverty,

inequality and social marginalization that have been

at the heart of conflict in the country. In particular,

IFAD continues to direct its resources towards the hill

and mountain areas, where poverty levels are high

and access to infrastructure, services and markets

remains limited.

Oxfam

Oxfam has been supporting the people of Nepal for

more than 30 years with the vision of creating a just

society without poverty; a society in which all women

and men live a life of dignity, enjoy their rights

and assume their responsibilities as active citizens

of Nepal. Through its Sustainable Development

Program, Earthquake Response Program and Media,

Advocacy and Campaign, Oxfam in Nepal aims

to provide people with livelihood opportunities,

ensuring that development-related activities are

demand driven and sustainable and that the most

vulnerable are empowered to claim their rights.

In order to alleviate poverty, OXFAM helps rural

communities with developing livelihood programs,

mainstreaming gender, preparing for disaster and

creating awareness on hygiene and sanitation. Oxfam

works in 25 districts in Nepal.

UN Women

The UN Women Nepal Country Office was

established in April 2012, and received full Delegation

of Authority in July 2013. Grounded in the vision of

equality, enshrined in the United Nations Charter,

UN Women, among other issues, works for the

elimination of discrimination against women and

girls; empowerment of women; achievement of

equality between women and men as partners and

beneficiaries of development, human rights,

humanitarian action, and peace and security. UN

Women provides substantive support to United

Nations bodies on all aspects of gender equality

issues. Guided by CEDAW, the Beijing Platform for

Action (BPfA) and the SDGs, UN Women in Nepal

focuses on the following key areas: violence against

women; peace and security; leadership and

participation; economic empowerment; and national

planning and budget. The UN Women Country Office

in Nepal provides technical assistance on gender by

coordinating the UN Gender Theme Group. In

addition, it leads in the realm of implementing the UN

Country Team Gender Scorecard. UN Women

continues to play a pivotal role in the Peace Support

Working Group as well. In addition, UN Women

envisages the establishment of a macro-level gender

coordination body led by the Government of Nepal,

co-convened by the United Nations Resident

Coordinator and the United Nations.

USAID

USAID Nepal’s Country Development Cooperation

Strategy (2014-2019) recognizes GESI as integral to

achieving its governance, economic growth and

human capital goals. As outlined in USAID’s Gender

Equality and Women’s Empowerment Policy, USAID

seeks to integrate GESI into all projects to: 1) Ensure

projects do not exacerbate or perpetuate gender

and other social disparities; 2) Reduce disparities

where possible; and 3) Empower women, girls,

and members of traditionally disadvantaged groups.

USAID projects regularly undergo rigorous GESI

analysis and compliance evaluation. Additionally,

all performance management plans include GESI

action plans, GESI-sensitive indicators, and

GESI-disaggregated data. As a member of Nepal’s

National Social Inclusion Action Group, USAID shares

GESI approaches with in-country partners. As a focus

country for the U.S. Feed the Future Initiative, Nepal


ANNEXES

continues to receive USAID support for scaling up

programmes that sustainably increase agricultural

productivity and facilitate access to markets.

For example, 30 percent of the total beneficiary

households reached by USAID’s Knowledge-Based

Integrated Sustainable Agriculture and Nutrition

Project (KISAN) are woman-led households involved

in commercial farming. USAID’s Knowledge-Based

Integrated Sustainable Agriculture and Nutrition

Project works to increase female farmers’ access

to village and community funds and trains women

and marginalized people on literacy, numeracy

and entrepreneurship. USAID also supports

improved nutrition by increasing the production

and consumption of nutritious food products, and

improving hygiene and access to safe water. USAID

supported over 85 000 smallholder farmers in 26

remote, conflict-affected districts to adopt improved

farming techniques. USAID’s work has increased

the incomes of 430 000 rural farmers (54 percent

women) by over 50 percent.

World Bank

The World Bank Group fielded its first economic

mission to Nepal in 1963 to assess the country’s

development prospects and challenges. Since 1969,

the World Bank has provided Nepal USD 3 billion in

credits and USD 1.2 billion in grants. The World Bank

Group is providing long-term support through the

Country Partnership Strategy covering fiscal years

2014-2018. In 2016, the World Bank Group began

implementing its new Gender Equality Strategy

2016-2023, following consultations with more than

1 000 stakeholders in 22 countries. The new strategy

focuses on tangible interventions by removing

barriers to women’s ownership of and control

over physical and financial assets (land, housing,

technology, finance), increasing women’s access to

finance and markets, helping clients improve work

opportunities and conditions for female employees,

supporting training for women entrepreneurs, and

improving corporate governance, including the

appointment of women to clients’ boards (World

Bank, 2015). Currently the World Bank Group

supports 23 projects worth USD 1.86 billion.

World Food Programme (WFP)

WFP’s Country Programme supports the Government

of Nepal in building livelihoods for the country’s

most vulnerable people. The Country Programme

also supports the Government of Nepal in enhancing

the food and nutrition security of vulnerable

communities and increasing resilience to disasters.

The Country Programme covers four areas, one

of which is livelihood creation to provide seasonal

employment and livelihood training, the restoration

and repair of rural roads and trails, and irrigation

channels and other community assets.

II. Civil society organizations

Centre for Environmental and Agricultural

Policy Research Extension and Development (CEAPRED) Nepal

Established in April 1991, CEAPRED is a leading

national developmental NGO in Nepal and works

in the agricultural sector. Since its establishment,

CEAPRED has consciously and consistently

focused on sustainable poverty reduction and

enhancement of food security and livelihoods of

the poor, disadvantaged and deprived families,

including small and marginal farmers of rural Nepal.

CEAPRED’s approach to poverty reduction consists of

promoting new and better economic and livelihood

opportunities at the local level, and linking these

opportunities to the markets. Over the past two

and half decades of its operation, CEAPRED has

implemented 70 development projects, most of

which are concerned with income and employment

generation through commercial high-value

agriculture and agro-enterprise promotion. CEAPRED

has directly worked with around 170 295 families

in 60 districts of Nepal. It has offices in 22 districts

managed by more than 305 full-time staff.

Development Project Service Center (DEPROSC)

DEPROSC was established in Nepal in 1993.

DEPROSC’s main aim is the reduction of poverty

through an integrated approach in thematic areas

of economic promotion and social development.

DEPROSC has served around 250 000 families of

different ethnicities in 54 districts of the country.

DEPROSC works closely with grassroots groups and

organizations, mostly in rural Nepal. Over the last

24 years, DEPROSC has successfully implemented

78 development projects and 40 research projects

in diverse disciplines including food security and

sustainable livelihoods, microfinance, education

and empowerment, disaster and humanitarian

assistance, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH),

rural community assets creation/rehabilitation, and

natural resource management. DEPROSC in Nepal

has greatly contributed in the microfinance

sector’s development of the country by providing


ANNEXES

direct lending services and promoting

microfinance/cooperatives in the hills region though

Laghubitta Bikash Bank (Microfinance Bank) and

NADEP Microfinance Financial Institution.

DEPROSC-Nepal is committed to enhancing the

participation of rural people in general and in

particular the poorest of the poor, children, women

and marginalized ethnic groups.

FORWARD Nepal

FORWARD Nepal is a registered non-profit service-

oriented national NGO. Established in 1997, with a

mission to help disadvantaged groups and the rural

poor, FORWARD Nepal aims to reduce poverty

among marginalized communities through integrated

and sustainable development interventions such as

improving food and nutrition security, household

incomes and resource conservation. The

organization implements its programme both at

national and local levels. FORWARD Nepal

implements projects that integrate social

mobilization, agriculture, livestock, fisheries and

aquaculture, farm forestry, biodiversity conservation

and value-chain and market development among

vulnerable groups such as poor households, women,

Dalits, Janajatis and children. Over the past 20 years,

it has implemented 84 projects in 55 districts

supporting 400 000 direct beneficiaries. FORWARD

Nepal is an implementing partner of the Rural

Women Economic Empowerment project (RWEE),

a United Nations Joint Programme in Sindhuli,

Sarlahi and Rautahat districts of Nepal.

Support Activities for Poor Producers in Nepal (SAPPROS Nepal)

SAPPROS Nepal is a national-level non-profit NGO

that was established in August 1991. It is one of

the best-known NGOs in Nepal, and over the last

25 years has worked in 50 districts of the country.

The main objective of SAPPROS is to implement

poverty reduction programmes in Nepal. SAPPROS’s

philosophy is that by building people’s organizations

and mobilizing local resources, and through

participatory planning and process facilitation, people

can be lifted from poverty. SAPPROS has been able

to reach over 394 984 households through activities

ranging from literacy drives and provision of drinking

water, to overall community development. It has

promoted different types of self-help groups, user

groups, local NGOs, and saving and credit

cooperatives. SAPPROS has gained experience on

the projects with the assistance of various

development donors. SAPPROS has made significant

achievements in community development, credit

access, micro-irrigation, access improvement,

institution building at the local level, human

resource development, income generation, school

rehabilitation, health and sanitation, etc. over the

past 25 years.

©FAO


ANNEXES

Annex 2: Case study: A success story of women’s empowerment in Syangja

“We are no more dependent on our husbands to

meet daily household expenses, rather we are in

position to provide pocket money to them” says

Sabitri B.K. who is a Dalit woman (so-called lower

caste in Hindu culture). Highlighting positive aspects

of the Jaisidada Women’s Community Farmers

Group, she explains that Dalit women are playing

an active role in the group. Sabitri is a remarkable

example of how the process of women’s

empowerment boosts the Dalit community.

The Jaisidada Women’s Community Farmers Group

was established as part of a year-long FAO telefood

project called “Community-based off-season

vegetable production in Syangja, Nepal”, which was

successfully completed in July 2016. The project

supported smallholder farmers in producing safe

and quality products, especially off-season (autumn,

winter and spring) vegetables such as cauliflower,

cabbage, radish, peas, broccoli and carrot. There was

also a drive to improve maize seed production in the

summer season with attention paid to minimizing

the use of harmful chemicals to protect the agro-

ecosystem and environment.

Year-round vegetable cultivation applying integrated

pest management technology was introduced in the

Jaisidada Women’s Community Group, which

consists of one member from each of the 32 village

households. Spread over an area of ten hectares,

the project allows the community to produce fresh

and healthy vegetables, and improve maize seed

production for the members.

After training, the Jaisidada Women’s Community

Farmers Group adopted new methods of composting

and integrated pest management technology,

rain-water harvesting and collection in small plastic

ponds, and learned how to construct plastic tunnels

for off-season vegetable production.

Birendra Bahadur Hamal, an agro-expert and the

former Syangja District Agriculture Development

Officer explained, “Farmers have learned to prepare

and use homemade organic liquid pesticides,

popularly known as Jholmal which they apply in

their farm. As a result, the use of chemical pesticides

has been reduced.”

©FAO/Vidhu Kayastha

Sabitri B.K., 45 year-old Dalit woman from Jaisidada demonstrating her success


ANNEXES



is now using fertilizers that are prepared basically

using cow dung and urine, waste straw and other

dairy wastes. This is because more farmers are

aware of hazards caused by mishandling and

mismanagement of chemicals for human beings,

domestic animals and the environment.

The Telefood project supported the farmers’ group to

construct 40 plastic tunnels and 32 plastic ponds so

that at least each household has one plastic tunnel

and one plastic pond. Farmers are also now equipped

with an electronic weighing machine and electric

maize thresher. Furthermore, a community building

with rooms for meeting and storage of seeds,

fertilizers and agro-products was constructed with

support from the project.

In addition to the off-season vegetables previously

mentioned, the Jaisidada Women’s Community

Farmers Group is also cultivating summer vegetables

in plastic tunnels including leafy vegetables and

tomatoes, and outside cultivating cucumber, gourds

(sponge, snake, bitter and bottle), chili, eggplant, okra

and pumpkin.


produced about 57 600 kg of winter vegetables.

After selling 62 percent of their production (about

35.8 metric tons), they earned NRP 1 432 000, the

equivalent of USD 13 718 (approximately USD 428

per household). The rest of the production of winter

vegetables was used for domestic consumption.

According to Kalpana Poudel, a 38-year-old

female farmer, the members of the group produced

39 metric tonnes of summer vegetables worth

approximately NRP 1 506 560 (equivalent to USD

14 432 and USD 451 per household). They also

earned NPR 712 620 (USD 6 660) from the

production and sale of 10 metric tonnes of improved

maize seed.

With collective efforts for marketing through the

Agriculture Cooperative Society, the members

of the Jaisidada Women’s Community Farmers

Group are receiving a daily income from selling

their fresh vegetable products in the market. The

empowered women of Jaisidada are also providing

technical support to 29 other women’s group in

the Aarukharka Village District Committee to adopt

community-based off-season vegetable farming in

their respective villages.


Vegetable farming tunnels in Jaisidada

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Representation in Nepal

United Nations Building, PulchowkLalitpur, Kathmandu, [email protected] CA3128EN/1/01.19

ISBN 978-92-5-131269-8

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